Which is safer? to install a forward car seat in the middle of the back seat? or on the side next to the door?

Question

Which is safer? to install a forward car seat in the middle of the back seat? or on the side next to the door?

Answer 1

Directly in the middle.  If not possible, rear passenger side.

Answer 2

middle of course

Answer 3

The safest place for any car seat will always be in  the middle of the rear seat, it has the best crumple zone of any part of the vehicle.

Answer 4

It's safest in the middle.

Answer 5

The best position for the seat is where it installs the best, with less than 1" of movement when you grab at the belt path with one hand. If it installs equally well in all positions, then the middle is safest. But you can not use LATCH in the middle in most cars, check your manual. You must use seatbelt to install.

On another note, though you didn't ask, make sure your child has absolutely outgrown the limits of his convertible seat REAR FACING before turning him forward facing. That means that he has reached the rear weight limit or there is less than 1" of seat above his head rear facing.

Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year is an outdated practice that could cost you your child's life!

1)A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 5 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age.

2)A child's vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone.

3)Current research suggests that children under the age of two years are 75 percent less likely to die or be seriously injured when they are riding rear facing.

4)In a recent article from Injury Prevention, it was found that the odds of severe injury to forward facing children age 12-23 months old was 5.32 times higher than a rear facing child. (Car Safety Seats For Children: Rear Facing For Best Protection; Injury Prevention 2007; 13:398-402.)

It works this way: when you get in an accident and run into something, the car stop suddently, but everything and everyone in the car keeps moving in the direction the car was moving when it stopped, in most accidents, this is forward. So in an accident with a child in a forward facing seat, his head, the heaviest part of the body on babies and toddlers, flies forward very forcefully and easily snaps. If that same child is in a rear facing seat, his head tries to fly forward but is supported by the back of the rear facing seat, so there is no stress put on the child's neck and spine.

Check out this photo album exclusively of rear facing kids, many of them much older than 12 months: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum...  There isn't a single documented case of a child breaking their legs b/c they were rear facing in an accident. There are, however, lots of cases where children have been killed and seriously injured where a rear facing seat would have protected them better.

Answer 6

The middle IF you can get a solid install (less than one inch of movement at the belt path).  If not, then outboard with a solid install is safer.

FYI: most cars do not allow for a center LATCH install- please check the vehicle manual