Centre seat safest for car travel

29 Jun 2006

The middle seat in the back of the car has caused endless squabbles between brothers and sisters for years. But now the source of this arguing has been revealed as the safest car seat.

Research from the US has found that the seat that children dislike so much is actually 86% safer than the ones in the front of the car and 25% safer than those either side of the middle seat.

"One reason the rear middle seat is the safest is because passengers sitting in this position have a much larger 'crush zone' than rear side-seat passengers in near-side impact crashes," lead researcher Dr Dietrich Jehle said.

More than 33,000 crashes were studied by the research team from the university at Buffalo.

However, the middle-rear seats of cars are often fitted with lap belts only, which the Department for Transport and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) claim are not as safe as the three-point (lap and diagonal) seat belts.

RoSPA recommends that mums and dads should use a baby or child seat suitable for their little one's weight and size for the safest possible journey.


© Adfero Ltd

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