Babies and children in the backseat law....?

Question

...Why was it made and does it cause more accidents from drivers looking back?
I'm a bachelor and I've never had any kids so I don't know that much about it. I asked my brother and his wife about the babies in the backseat law. They said it was because this one time a baby in the front seat (in a car seat) was decapitated when the air bag went off. So they made the law to put them in the back seat.
It seems to me that would be more dangerous by causing more accidents from the driver having to look back over there shoulder to deal with the kids.
What do you think? Why was the law made and is it really safer for the children?

Answer 1

Not satisfying entirely, but I am a Reserve Sheriff's deputy in Tennessee. During our training for Field Sobriety Tasks, our traffic unit Supervisor introduced me to the National Highway Transporation Safety Administration.



They have a wealth of detailed information on traffic safety related issues including a series of in-depth studies on the statistical rationality as to why children are asked to be secured in certain ways to certain standards.



http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.9f8c7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/



I know that many of the deputies with whom I work attended child seat restraint and safety training and are certified to assist in the installation of car seats. I also know the same deputies who will happily ticket an errant parent for violating TN law in terms of weight and age relative to the type of restraint required:



Effective July 1, 2005 (http://www.shelby-sheriff.org/programs/carseatsafety.asp)

Infants under age 1 or weighing 20 pounds or less must ride facing the rear and in the back of the vehicle. Both age and weight requirements must be met before turning the infant forward-facing. If your rear-facing child safety seat has a weight limit, use it as long as the child's weight permits. Check the manufacturer's instructions. Children ages 1 through 3 and too big for the rear-facing seats, must ride in forward-facing child safety seats in the back seat. Children ages 4 through 8, less than 4' 9" tall, must ride in a belt-positioning booster seat in the back seat of the vehicle. They must use both lap and shoulder belts. Children ages 9 through 12, measuring 4' 9" or more, must buckle up. They should also ride in the back seat of the vehicle. Children ages 13 through 15 must buckle up.

Answer 2

All child safety seats are secured in the back seat, unless the car (e.g., Honda S2000) doesn't have one. The government standard is for the child to be safely restrained in a 30 MPH frontal crash. If you have doubts as to the efficacy of the laws, here is an article from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration:



http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_static_file_downloader.jsp?file=/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Communication%20&%20Consumer%20Information/Traffic%20Tech%20Publications/Associated%20Files/tt331.pdf



Here is some additional information on air bags and children. Children under 12, and even some small adults, are advised to ride in the back seat because of the dangers.



http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.9f8c7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=4670b93a0b088a006bc1d6b760008a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_4670b93a0b088a006bc1d6b760008a0c_viewID=detail_view&itemID=61d95a6b35cdff00VgnVCM1000002c567798RCRD&overrideViewName=FAQGroup



I'm not aware of any statistics relating babies and toddlers in the back seat with any increased incidence of accidents. Anything that's distracting to the driver can increase the likelihood of an accident, including cell phone use, fumbling with the radio, putting on makeup, eating... the list goes on and on. I can say that, as a parent, I'm more careful when my daughter is in the car. I stick to the speed limit, keep an interval, stop at the line, and all the other stuff you're supposed to do. I also get far more annoyed with rude and impatient drivers than I ever did before we had her. She stays in the back seat. My eyes stay on the road. I should add that I don't put her in the car any more often than I have to. If other parents are like me, than we probably have fewer accidents, not more.

Answer 3

Your brother & sister-in-law are correct.



Advocates demanded air bags for safety. 2 dozen little bodies later & advocates started demanding kids in the back seat.

Also the back seat & facing backward for babies & toddlers is safer during an accident.



I can't answer the number accidents caused by the driver turning around.



Addendum:

Don't fall into the trap of demanding seat belts on school buses. As the school bus in designed their will be more injuries to kids wearing seat belts than those not wearing them; unless the bus actually overturns & then it is 50-50.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if your brother and sister in law's decapitation story is completely true but, it is safer for kids to be in the back seat. Air bags were designed for adults, and kids under 4 foot 9 in. need to be in the back with a booster seat because, the airbags could kill or seriously injure them. Hope that helped. Just FYI I agree I think the driver looking back to deal with the kids is more dangerous.

Answer 5

The back seat is safer for many reasons. No windshield, no airbag, farther away from a front-side impact. Drivers should not be looking back at their children while driving. If the child really needs something, the driver should pull over. Otherwise, the child needs to learn to behave.

Answer 6

They say the safest place to place a child is rear facing in the back center of the car. when you think about it it makes sense! if you're hit from either side, the child is in the center rather than being on the side you were hit from. hit from the front or back? child is still in the center. the reason rear facing is safest is because usually car crashes are from the front, when you come to a sudden stop in the front your body flies forward, but since baby is facing the other way they go into the carseat rather than their head flinging forward. i do not think having to look back is a greater danger than having them up front. they sell mirror that you can place on the seat in front of baby that when you look in your rear view mirror you can see your babies reflection through it if you're worried about it. if i need to look at my children i wait till i come to a stop sign or stop light then turn around and look. since one of my children is in a forward facing seat i can just look in my review mirror.



i dont know about a baby losing their head with an airbag but the airbag poses a great risk to children because of the force it flies out at. an adult can take the force it comes out at, while it could knock a child out. also an adult can move the airbag once it deploys to be able to breathe, a child cannot. a airbag is so that your head doesnt fly into the dashboard or steering wheel, in the backseat this is not an issue.

Answer 7

it is on no account risk-free to hold any new child on your hands everywhere in a moving automobile. The stress on each thing interior the automobile must you have a ruin is plenty plenty extra advantageous than you ever might desire to hold whilst that new child is pulled on in a ruin. the new child might in all probability be killed and thrown from the vehicle by way of fact the raised place on your lap might positioned them at a a techniques better danger of being thrown over the front seat and the two via or into the windshield in a frontal collision. right this is a video displaying a automobile crash with babies interior the back seat.

Answer 8

I don't know about being decapitated, but when the airbag goes of, theres powder thats with the bag. it can cause burns and rashes from it, and if that gets on a baby, or thebag itself hits than thats really bad. Plus, you shouldnt be attending to your babys needs while driving. if your concerned you can just point your mirror at em. lol