Sunday was a very tragic day in Sweden. A horrible accident took place in the north of Sweden. It took the life of a mother, father and their 5-year old daughter. A 10-year girl is fighting for her life after being critically injured. The car somehow drove over to the opposite side of the road at 90 km/h (55 mph) and collided with a bus head on. The accident left the car unrecognizable, as seen in the photo above, and a dozen injured people on the bus.
The media attention was enormous all over the country. Television, radio and newspapers all had extensive reports. Crisis center was quickly set up for family, friends, etc. While we do have adults dying in traffic, still at a very low rate, it’s extremely rare to have a 5-year old dying in a car accident in Sweden. By using our high weight rear facing car seats to keep our children rear facing mostly past age of 4, and then in a high back booster, our fatality rate in car accidents for age 0-6 years is basically zero.
This accident was very tragic but something amazing happened. One little girl was unharmed. A 1-year old girl survived this horrible crash thanks to her rear facing car seat. She was pulled out of the car unharmed, only with minor scratches. The girl was sitting rear facing in the front seat, airbag deactivated, and survived the crash in her rear facing car seat which according to unconfirmed reports was a Britax Hi-Way. Take a look at the car in the photo above and once again witness the incredible safety of a rear facing car seat.
Many believe the front seat is not a safe place for a young child. It’s actually just as safe, or safer, than the rear when looking at all the factors as discussed here. Airbag must of course be deactivated. We have been rear facing children in Sweden since 1965 and during all these years we have learned a lot.
One thing which is rarely surprising to the car seat professionals is the amazing safety of a rear facing car seat. A head on frontal collision at 90 km/h (55 mph) is not really survivable but a Swedish rear facing car seat provide a baby or a toddler with a great chance of surviving even the most horrible accident.
Many parents ask about side impact protection of Swedish rear facing car seats. All kinds of fancy slogans are used to promote side impact protection for different brands around the world. Especially for forward facing seats. Swedish children were first placed rear facing in 1965 and during all these years we’ve learned a thing or two of how to keep children safe in cars. Side impact collisions are thankfully not the most common but sadly the most deadly accidents.
If we look at all collisions we find that frontal collisions account for roughly 70%, side collisions for 25% and rear collisions the remaining 5%. This is why car safety is optimized for the front seat and why a child is as safe or safer in the front seat as long as airbag in passenger seat is deactivated. This fact is not what most parents have been taught, more about this can be found here.
Side impact protection has been greatly improved over the years, thanks to great work by car manufacturers, but collisions from the side are still our most deadly kind of accidents. The front of our cars can withstand horrific crashes while even low speed accidents from the side can be deadly. When looking at test results and crash videos one could easily believe that forward facing seats provide excellent side impact protection for our little ones. Things are unfortunately very different in real life due to "pre-impact breaking".
Pre-impact braking occur in a high percentage of accidents from the side and basically means that a driver hits the brakes just before impact. This makes a big difference in how our children’s vulnerable head and neck area is protected.
In a typical side collision, head of a forward facing child will be thrown forward just before collision due to pre-impact breaking. This leads to poor protection despite deep "side wings" regardless if it’s a harnessed or a high back booster seat. A rear facing child is far more fortunate. In an accident a rear facing child will be pushed further into the car seat just before collision, due to pre-impact breaking, leading to excellent protection for the weak neck and head area. As any doctor will say: "We can fix arms, legs and many other things. We can’t fix head and neck".
We should focus mostly on the more common frontal collisions but keeping our children rear facing for a long time is also a great way to keep vulnerable head and neck area well protected in side impact collisions.
Front seat of a car is sometimes called "suicide seat", "death trap" and "child killer" by parents on various internet forums. The Swedes, widely recognized as being 30 years ahead of other countries in car seat safety, use the front seat extensively with airbag deactivated and have an unbelievable safety record for children. What’s fact and what’s fiction? Is the front seat safe?
We often say that a child is as safe in the front seat as in the rear seat as long as airbag is deactivated. In reality, a child is likely even safer in the front seat when considering all the various factors.
Contrary to popular opinion, the front seat is an excellent place for a child as long as airbag is deactivated with key or switch. Trusting deactivation with a sensor, except perhaps the Mercedes solution, is something we don’t feel so comfortable about. Can you trust deactivation with key or switch? Absolutely! Some of the finest and most safety conscious car brands in the world use this solution andhave done so safely for many years.
What makes front seat such a safe and practical place for a rear facing child as long as airbag is deactivated? A few reasons below:
Optimized front seat: Cars are optimized for safety in front seat. We don’t know how and when a crash will take place but we do know there will always be someone in a front seat
Strength of dashboard: Dashboard, or what’s on the inside, is the strongest point in a car. Frontal collisions account for about 75% of all accidents, protection is therefore very important and a high priority.
Leg space for child: Parents are often (unnecessary) concerned about leg space for their child. It’s a common car seat myth that children are uncomfortable or unsafe if legs are bent. Parents therefore often turn children around forward facing way too early. Using the front seat is practical and increases leg space for a child while also leaving space in the back for a passenger. We know for a fact rear facing is 500% safer than forward facing, parents using front seat often keep their child rear facing an additional year which makes a huge difference in safety.
Less distractions: Research has shown keeping a child in front seat is less distractive than rear seat. Children are calmer, especially smaller babies, since they can see mom/dad. It’s easy to communicate with a child in the front seat. Parents can also see their child in peripheral vision and focus on the road. Is your child screaming when alone in back seat? Using front seat next to mommy/daddy is likely to work much better.
Flexible placement: Larger families, three or more young children, often struggle to find good and safe seating arrangements for their kids. Using front seat means children are more likely to sit properly restrained.
Leg space for parents: Long rear facing time is great but not if parents are cramped in front seat or it’s unusable. There are some rear facing seats in other countries which have taller seat shells and slightly higher weight limit (nothing like 25 kg. or 55 lbs though) but these seats often require an enormous amount of space. One example is the US seat Radian which has a taller seat shell than other seats but often needs so much space it makes front seat unusable. Being able to use front seat is practical and provide good leg space for child in front and also for a person in the back.
Research has shown ages ago that front seat is an excellent place for a child. Safety conscious brands such as Volvo also state very clearly that front seat is just as safe as the rear seat for car seats. Research and theory is one thing, how does rear facing in front seat work in real life? It works amazingly well.
Swedish fatality rates for children in traffic accidents aged 0-6 years are close to zero each year largely thanks to keeping children rear facing until age 4 or longer. Sweden started keeping children rear facing in 1965, a large percentage of Swedish children today sit rear facing in the front seat with airbag deactivated with fantastic results.
Using the front seat for a rear facing child is practical and very safe, this has been shown by research and real life experiences. Please remember to always deactivate airbag with key, switch or service center! Next time someone tells you front seat is "dangerous" you know it’s just fiction:-)
Many parents wonder how the Swedes keep their kids rear facing until age 4 or longer. How does a parent fit one, two, or three rear facing seats in the rear and still have room left in front? Is a large car necessary or will a mid size, or small car, work as well?
The Swedish rear facing seats are unique since they have tall seat shells but still don’t need much room. A regular mid size car will keep a toddler or two rear facing in he back seat until age 4 or longer. Space in the front will still be fine. A good example are the photos below with a DuoLogic and a Britax Hi-Way in a normal VW Golf, a regular mid size car.
This is surprising to most parents, a common myth told by organizations who hate rear facing is that a rear facing seat in the rear means no space left in the front regardless of car. Just yesterday a worried parent emailed asking about using DuoLogic in a Volkswagen Passat, a large family car. She had just spoken to a very well known organization who told her "there is no way it will fit".
Not only will it fit well in a Passat, there is lots of room in the front seat. DuoLogic and the compact Britax Hi-Way will also fit nicely in much smaller cars, such as a VW Golf. This car is one of the most common in the world, two Swedish rear facing seats in the rear seat with plenty of room in the front is no problem (see photos above, click for larger size).
These incorrect statements by organisations, who know next to nothing about rear facing seats, are of course confusing for parents. Leg space in front seat is an important consideration when choosing a car seat since we want the whole family to be comfortable in the car. If you have questions about how rear facing Swedish car seats fit your car please email us at info@carseat.se and we’ll help you out.
Collisions are terrible and scary but does occur more often than we like. The whole point with using a Swedish rear facing car seat is to keep our children safe in case of an accident. Hearing of unharmed kids in severe collisions is always a relief. Phoebe uses a Britax Two-Way for her son and was hit at high speed. She was kind to include details of her crash and photos of the car which was totally destroyed. Only person not injured in the crash was her son in his Britax Two-Way:
Hi Håkan
I was in a terrible crash on Wednesday. DS was in his TWE so I thought you might be curious of the story and pictures.
The next time you speak with your reps at Swedish Britax please give them my HUGE thanks for keeping my son so safe. Out of the three of us who were in the car he was the only one without any injuries. I owe it all to his Two-Way!
As soon as I get my insurance money I’ll be ordering another TWE from you.
Phoebe
The collision was severe, here is a more detailed description:
My mom, DS and I were in a crash today. The car looks horrible, I can only assume it’s totaled but everyone is mostly ok, so far, I think… My mom is currently at the hospital awaiting a cat scan to make sure that her broken ribs haven’t caused any liver damage. I am going to go in tomorrow to confirm broken ribs too.
We were driving north on the freeway when a Toyota Sequoia was just stopped in the middle of the freeway. My mother was driving and she was definitely a very safe following distance behind the car. She slammed on the breaks and we were easily stopped and didn’t hit the car but all of a sudden the car behind us slammed into us thus causing us to slam into the Sequoia.
DS was in his TWE, RF (rear facing). It did magnificently in the crash. The tethers are a bit frayed and so is the cover in a couple of spots. I haven’t checked over the shell. Obviously not going to continue to use it. DS has never sat FF but I had to install him FF in the tow truck to go 1 mile to get to a rest stop to wait to get picked up. (Our other choice was to wait by the side of the freeway which was DEFINITELY more dangerous than using a crashed seat for a 1 mile ride in a huge tow truck.)
DS was SO funny sitting FF (forward facing), I don’t think he liked it. The first thing he said was "but I can’t see you!" After his father came to get us he told him "and I sat this way in the tow truck." When he said "this way" he held his arms out. So cute how he described it. Oh another funny he asked the state trooper if Mater was going to come and get us.
Thanks to Phoebe for sharing photos and the story of her crash. We wish her and her mom a speedy recovery!
