People used to confidently say that it was safest to ride in the back seat of a passenger car. This is part of the reason why children are always in the back seat. It is statistically safer for them if they are involved in an accident. On modern vehicles, the back seat also has clips for child safety seats.
But some reports have said that this is changing. It’s no longer a guarantee that the back seat is the safest. In some cases, riding in the front seat is actually safer – although it is still prohibited for small children due to the danger from airbags. What has changed? Has the back seat gotten more dangerous over time?
The front seat has gotten safer
What has actually happened is that many safety developments have increased protection for those in the front seat. After all, many people commute to work and back every day without any passengers in their car. The easiest way to save lives in car accidents is to make things safer for a single driver – or perhaps a front-seat passenger.
All of these safety developments haven’t necessarily translated into the backseat. Some safety systems just don’t work as well there and haven’t been implemented. It doesn’t mean that the backseat has gotten to be more dangerous, but simply that engineers and auto manufacturers have not focused on this area as much as the front – so the front seat has caught up and then surpassed the back in terms of road safety.
That being said, you could get injured in an accident no matter where you’re sitting. If so, you need to know how to seek financial compensation.