Safest place for mounting child seat?

[WS]

Hello All,

What is your knowledge and opinions on the safest place in the car for mounting child seats? We have probably all heard various recommendations and so have I, but the recommendations are not always 100% consistent and vary depending on the source. One thing that is usually suggested is that back seats are a safer place for a child seat than front seats. But which of the rear seats - driver side, passenger side or the one in the centre?

Points to discuss:
- Rearward-facing seat recommendations vs. forward-facing seat recommendations?
- Isofix-mounted vs. seatbelt-mounted? It seems to make sense that Isofix (if equipped with the top tether) should work better than seatbelt-based mounting, as Isofix has been designed for this purpose. Crash test (e.g. ADAC) suggest that it is not always the case though.
- The middle back seat seems a good choice because it is close to the geometrical centre of the car, so the crumple zones around the seat are the largest then. Provided that this seat is equipped with Isofix or three-point seatbelt.
- The back seat on the passenger side seems to be a good choice because: the backrest of the front passenger seat protects the child from objects that might fall into the vehicle during a collision; the seat is on the pavement side so when the car is parked, the seat can be accessed safely; this seat is always equipped with a 3-point seatbelt, and usually also with Isofix.
- Some argue that the place behind the driver seat is the safest because the driver "instinctively avoids" collisions which might affect their side of the vehicle. But I have not seen any research to support it and in my opionion it is a myth. What is your view?
- The influence of side airbags / curtain airbags on a child positioned on one of the sides of the rear seat?

A couple of links to start with:
http://www.webmd.com/children/news/2008 ... s-car-seat
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesa ... rt-924.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-livin ... t-20043939

Comments very welcome!

[martine]

My understanding is rear middle (for the reason you mentioned), rearward facing (providing the child is baby-sized of course) and ISOfix.

Rearward facing airliner seats are the safest but unpopular with customers apparently.

[WS]

Thanks Martin. Any other views?

[Slink_Pink]

My understanding is rear middle (for the reason you mentioned), rearward facing (providing the child is baby-sized of course) and ISOfix.

+1

Also, the alternative to isofix top teather is a base with fixed leg extending to the floor. In my experience, Isofix is less common in the middle seat. Also, the middle has less ease of access for fitting either a child into seat or seat containing child into the car. My preference is nearside in the case of only one child. Definately rear facing. The rear seat position has the advantage that it's very difficult to see and therefore interact with your child. Other than a sub-consious ability to detect anything that sounds remotely like choking, you can pretty much ignore them and focus on the driving task. I see a lot of single parents (by which I mean travelling without another parent) with their child next to them in the front seat. Yes it's cute, but too tempting for most people to interact with them to the serious detriment of their driving.

It also amazes me just how few parents have their child seat straps tight enough. Basically if you can get more than two fingers between them and the strap it's too loose (assuming the child can still breathe!). There seems to be a total lack of appreciation that unlike adult belts there is no tensioning system in the event of heavy braking, so the child must ALWAYS be tight, unable to move much or wriggle about. [/rant]