The safest place in the car for a child in a seat

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

Every family that has the happiness to raise a small child is obliged to observe the rule of "short hand" for his safety. It means that you should not let the child go further than the hands of an adult can reach. So it will be possible to always control the situation when it comes to small children. This rule is also valid (with some reservations) in the case of transporting a child by car.

Common truths from the traffic police

Since almost every family with children has their own car, adults simply have to know where the safest place in the car for a child is. Discussions on this subject are being held on various Internet forums, in European communities, as well as among compatriots.

The statistics are the most diverse, but still I want tohear an official response from representatives of those in power. According to Russian law, small and not very peanuts up to 12 years of age must be transported exclusively in a car seat (otherwise a fine!). But where to install it, there are no clear instructions, the parent must decide this issue on their own.

Five years ago, within the framework of the all-Russian project "Little Big Passenger", the following recommendation was nevertheless issued: "The safest place is in the middle of the back seat, that is, in the center of the car." Although some European experts on child autoinjury are of the opinion that a trip in a car is a dangerous thing anyway. Therefore, no matter what position you choose, the main thing is that everyone is comfortable. Even with a car seat, the danger is also great, just the percentage is different.

Choosing a car seat based on car seat category

In order for children to really occupy the safest place in the car, it is necessary to take into account the age and category of the purchased seat:

• Cradle chairs for the smallest (categories 0 and 0+) are recommended to be installed in the back seat, with the headboard away from the door. The cradle in this case is perpendicular to the movement of the car. If the mother is driving, then often this type of car seat for babies is fixed on the front passenger seat, but against the direction of the car. The seat belt must be below the child's shoulder and there must be no airbag in this area.
• Both front and rear seats can be fixed categories 1, 2, 3. For the firstA five-point harness is required. Children in this case sit in the direction of the car. The only difference is in the fixation of the main belt (for 1 - just above shoulder level, for 2 - through the center of the shoulder). Boosters (the third category of seats) do not have a back and side walls.

It must be remembered that the safest place in the car to install a child car seat is really safe only if the seat of any category is correctly installed and locked.

Mounting the car seat on the front passenger seat

Statistics inexorably tells adults that this option is the most unsafe for transporting not only children, but also any passenger. This is explained by the fact that in case of imminent danger, the driver, as a rule, takes the vehicle to the left in order to protect himself from a collision. Accordingly, the right front corner of the machine is the first to be hit.

In a frontal collision, the child will also be in imminent danger, especially if the airbag deploys. Therefore, it is impossible to call such an option for fixing a child car seat "the safest place in a car in an accident". Although there are still pluses: it is convenient for the mother to observe how the baby behaves, he is in sight and on the “short arm”.

Location of the car seat in the back seat behind the passenger on the right

Encouraging statistics suggest that this option is very acceptable. The seat on the right rear receives the fewest impacts inAn accident, because it is located from the oncoming traffic in the opposite corner. In order to make it convenient for parents to see their child (after all, it is almost impossible in the rear-view mirror), you can install an additional mirror in the car. This will make it easier to follow the actions of a small passenger.

The benefits don't stop there. The right side is the safest place in the car in the sense that it will be correct to seat the baby and drop off from the sidewalk rather than the roadway.

Behind the driver it is safe for a child - a myth debunked

For a long time it was believed that children should sit in the rear left. This is true in three ways:

1. Typically, most car manufacturers make the left side stronger.
2. The driver in the event of an accident automatically takes his left side away from the impact.
3. The rearview mirror perfectly shows what the child is doing. And the accompanying person in the front passenger seat can easily reach the baby in this position.

But there are also three things that indicate that behind the driver is not the safest place in the car for a child in a seat:

1. Children have to be seated and dropped off not from the sidewalk, but in the immediate vicinity of the roadway.
2. In addition, oncoming traffic is very close to this place.
3. In case of anyproblems with a child, it is difficult for a driver who is alone in a car to reach the seat behind him on the go.

Favorite child safety seat placement is the sweet spot

Listening to the advice of both domestic and foreign experts, it is best to seat your precious child directly in the middle of the back seat sofa. If you visually imagine the location of the child seat inside the car exactly behind, in the middle, then it is obvious how much free space is around it.

In a crash, this seat is 16% (according to University at Buffalo case study statistics) safer than all other child seat positions. This is indeed, if not the safest place in the car for a child seat, then definitely the most among the above variations. It is surrounded by a space that is not compressed by a collision (including the sides on both sides).

Methods of attaching a child seat in a car

When purchasing a seat for transporting your child in the car, you should carefully study the instructions and fasten it strictly according to it. Two ways are being considered:

• The car seat in the selected position is secured with the seat belts supplied with the vehicle. There are situations when the length of the belts is not enough. In this case, it is absolutely impossible to lengthen them yourself. It is better to contact a car repair shop or an authorized dealer for such a service.
• A less popular option - the Isofix System ("Isofix") - has built-inchild seat metal rails with special fasteners at the ends. Strong brackets are installed directly in the car seat.

Although when choosing the second option and fixing the chair with it, the fact that the safest place in the car is in the back in the middle is fully confirmed. The risks in this case are much less than when fastening with seat belts, despite the fact that the Isofix system is less popular. This is due to the fact that not all cars are equipped in this way.

How to place children in the car if there are several of them

In many cars, the middle seat in the back is not suitable for a car seat (for example, due to the built-in fold-out armrest). In addition, if there are three children in a family, it will be problematic to place three car seats at once in an average car.

Two children are best placed in the back seat as close to the center as possible. Or act according to the principle: the younger, the more it is necessary to secure the trip of the baby. Therefore, parents should rationally decide where the safest places in the car for each of the little passengers will be.