I'd Like Parents Opinions On This.....

crosstownk

I just posted a poll here > http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054954253 and I'd appreciate your vote and any comments you may have.

Wishbone Ash

Although many parents put the childseat at the nearside for ease of access and observation, it is safer behind the drivers seat. In a potential accident situation, the drivers instinct to preserve his or her (ie the driver's) life will take over and could also automatically result in saving the life of the child behind.

embee

I carry my 4 month old daughter in the front passenger seat, which is absolutely fine as I don't have passenger side airbags. And I don't get distracted by her as she tends to fall asleep within minutes of the engine starting.

Kernel32

I was told by both our son's pediatrician and the local fire department that originally checked his car seat that the middle rear is the safest place in the car for a baby. I never really checked up on it though. A quick Google turned up this..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627173902.htm

Debracd

Posted

TempestSabre

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Although many parents put the childseat at the nearside for ease of access and observation, it is safer behind the drivers seat. In a potential accident situation, the drivers instinct to preserve his or her (ie the driver's) life will take over and could also automatically result in saving the life of the child behind.

What?

Sleepy

If you know you're going to hit something or someone, it's sometimes possible to lock the wheel one way or the other to ensure the other side of the car takes the majority of the impact. I'm presuming this is what Ash is talking about.

TempestSabre

Kernel32 wrote:

I was told by both our son's pediatrician and the local fire department that originally checked his car seat that the middle rear is the safest place in the car for a baby. I never really checked up on it though. A quick Google turned up this..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627173902.htm

Makes sense that the middle, furthest away from most common impacts is the best location.

TempestSabre

Sleepy wrote:

If you know you're going to hit something or someone, it's sometimes possible to lock the wheel one way or the other to ensure the other side of the car takes the majority of the impact. I'm presuming this is what Ash is talking about.

Micheal Schumacher doesn't have those kinda reactions. Thats Hollywood stuff.

Ickle Magoo

Erm, doesn't seem to be an option or take into account that a lot of people have more than one child....

Torak

TempestSabre wrote:

Micheal Schumacher doesn't have those kinda reactions. Thats Hollywood stuff.

disagree..

My dad was in a crash where there was nothing he could do due to how narrow the road was and the lack of anywhere to go.

He successfully slowed his car, moved it as far into the hedge as possible given the car travelling at over 60MPH directly towards him, and angled the DRIVERS side towards the oncoming car.

thus reducing the impact to his passenger whilst simultaneously putting himself in far more danger. All in a second or two.. maybe less.

Its surprising what you can do when adrenaline kicks in. If only we could use it like that all the time..

Note that he didn't turn the whole car towards the oncoming vehice, however he did what he could in an attempt to ensure the safety of the others in his car.

TempestSabre

Would that not make it more dangerous for a child behind the driver?

Dors1976

I put my child behind me. I wish I could put the car set in the middle but I only have a waist belt in that seat (waste of a belt more like) Use to have seat in the front as I had no airbag but baby is too big now. Personally I agree that the middle seat is the best but I really don't know where else except there is the safest the way some people drive.:)

Kernel32

Ickle Magoo wrote:

Erm, doesn't seem to be an option or take into account that a lot of people have more than one child....

In my case my older child got moved to behind the passenger seat and the baby was put in the middle. I guess in this situation the older child gets the shaft.

Torak

TempestSabre wrote:

Would that not make it more dangerous for a child behind the driver?

There was not one there..

To be clear - I disagreed with you saying that reactions would not be adequate to take into account all of the variables, make an informed decision and act on that decision.

My example whilst differing from the original statement in some important points, clearly shows that this is not the case.

If a child is behind you in the seat then I imagine you would have different variables to evaluate and you would do your best to ensure the safety of everyone in the car.

In summary my point is that you would (perhaps?) be surprised at the amount of things that we as humans can evaluate in an extremely short space of time if and when we need to.

Ickle Magoo

Kernel32 wrote:

In my case my older child got moved to behind the passenger seat and the baby was put in the middle. I guess in this situation the older child gets the shaft.

Hmm...my car just has a lap belt for the middle seat so that isn't an option....:(

CJhaughey

Our 20mth old sits in the middle back seat, he likes it as he can see more
There is a three point belt in the corolla so I am happy with the fixing.
Always check to see that the seat is correctly tensioned as hard down as you can, I have been surprised to find on a few occasions that the seat had worked loose and was able to rock back and forth a few degrees.
This is probably more important than the positioning of the seat.

Kernel32

From Car Safety.org

Q40: What is the safest position for my carseat?

The center of the rear seat is usually safest since it is farthest from a possible side impact, but only if your carseat fits well in that position. Any position in the rear seat is acceptable unless prohibited by the vehicle or child seat owner's manual. The seat behind the passenger may be slightly safer than the seat behind the driver, since it allows you to unload the child on the curb side, allows you to see your child more easily from the driver's seat and is very slightly less likely to be hit on that side in a side impact. There is also a small risk that a front seat-back could collapse in a severe rear-end crash, and the passenger seat is less likely to be occupied by a heavy adult who could crush a carseat in this situation. The front seat is generally not advised for children 12 and under, especially if an active airbag is present.

If you have more than one child, the safest arrangement may not be obvious. Usually, it is preferable to put the child with the most protection in the outboard location; rear-facing seats offer the most protection from side impacts. These types of questions are very appropriate for our forums.

This is in line with everything I have always been told. While I don't doubt Torak's anecdotal story of spiderman like reflexes I still prefer to trust the experts on something like this.

Torak

I was not arguing that position..

Why am I being misquoted?

My childseat is behind the passenger seat. My wifes car is the same.

A single statement was made which i refute. absolutely and completely. period.
.

Orion

TempestSabre wrote:

Micheal Schumacher doesn't have those kinda reactions. Thats Hollywood stuff.

No it's not. I narrowly avoided a crash one day with these Hollywood style reactions. A truck was in the middle lane of a three lane carraigeway. I was in the right lane. Gap in the median coming up and the truck decided to turn right. Not change lane - turn right! Didn't bother indicating or even looking in his blind spot which is where I was as I was passing him. My reactions were to speed up, go into the gap in the median and pull back out ahead of him as he turned into it. I even had time to sound the horn He missed me by inches. Conscious thought had no time to play any part - it's purely an instinctive reaction and they can act extremely quickly.

As for the passenger side being more dangerous - the front passenger seat is known as the 70% seat for a reason. 70% of impacts hit that seat!

Anyhoo - my two kids are in rear driver and rear passenger seats. No option for that on the poll

TempestSabre

Torak wrote:

...My example whilst differing from the original statement in some important points, clearly shows that this is not the case....

Macros42 wrote:

....My reactions were to speed up, go into the gap in the median and pull back out ahead of him as he turned into it. ...

As for the passenger side being more dangerous - the front passenger seat is known as the 70% seat for a reason. 70% of impacts hit that seat!....

Neither example demonstrates that in driving to protect yourself, the drivers side rear seat was better protected than the passenger side. Which was the point being made. I would assume the passenger side would be easier protect in the majority of scenerio's. I just can't imagine that the in majority of accidents, that the driver can manoever a car to protect the seat behind him.

I never said you don't react in an accident. Thats changing the subject.

Besides, all you needed was bit of bad luck and...that truck to tip you, or a stone in the ditch to catch you, and the car could have flipped the car, or spun it across the road.

As for 70% of impacts. Wheres that statistic from? I'd imagine most head on accidents are generally on the drivers side. Unless you have a habit of driving on the wrong side of the road. I would assume that the majority of accidents are with vehicles with one occupant, I'd expect that to be the driver. Of course we're not taking about the front passenger seat or driver anyway, (regardless of the poll) but which seat in the rear.

3is_me

Over here in Canada, the safest place to put your child is in a rear-facing child seat until the age of two. Or as long as their size will maintain it. Child seats are a requirement now until the age of eight, so it seems to me that only a lap belt should not be a problem, if you buy the proper type of seat.

3is_me

oops, rear-facing in the middle back seat is what I meant to say

Ickle Magoo

3is_me wrote:

so it seems to me that only a lap belt should not be a problem, if you buy the proper type of seat.

Can you buy a car seat for a 10wk old that is held securely in place by a lap belt only? I haven't seen those....the seat we have requires a three-point belt

Debracd

Nope ya can't! The rearfacing carseats available here all have to be fitted with a 3 point seatbelt or Isofix. The max weight in the 'big' rearfacing(and eventually forward facing) carseats is around 13kg, but again, must be used with a 3point belt!