..to ask why you allow your child to sit in the front seat of the car?

[schooltripwoes]

By child I mean one small enough to need a car seat / booster (under 11s or thereabouts).

All safety advice I've ever read clearly states that children are generally much, much safer sat in the back of the car if there were to be an accident.

Passenger seat safety features such as airbags are designed to protect an adult body, and as such may not work well for a young child.

Yet many of the children arriving at my children's school / hobbies travel sat in the front of the car (I notice this mainly for ages 5-8). In some cases it's because the rear seats are occupied with several siblings / lift shares, but in most cases it's not.

If you let your child sit in the front, why?

You don’t need to deactivate the passenger airbag if the child is in a forward facing seat - just move the seat back as far as possible.
www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/child-safety/car-seats
www.childcarseats.org.uk/choosing-using/airbags-and-child-seats/
Always disable airbags if you have to put a rear-facing childseat in the front though, because that is a seriously dangerous combination.

I have a young child in the front of my car because I have 4 dc and sitting one in a high back booster in the front is the only way we fit.

I was watching a recent episode of The Mummy Diaries (those sisters from TOWIE...it was on the TV and I couldn't be bothered to get the remote to change channels!) And the father had the little boy in the front seat. He couldn't have been more than 2.5-3, and the straps of his car seat seemed quite slack. I found it quite unsettling as I just think 'what if...?'

But then I also don't understand why people turn their babies at the earliest opportunity at around 9 months. My son is nearly 21m and still rear facing.

There are just too many idiots on the roads these days!

I’m being very thick as I can’t see why it is more dangerous in the front, if you are thrown forward but restrained then how is it more dangerous in the front? They won’t hit the dash I assume or if they do then they will also hit the seat in front if they were in the back as it’s the same proximity??
I’m not being narky I honestly want someone to point out what I’m obviously missing as this is news to me and I feel silly but also confused as to why it’s more dangerous???

@Janus most dangerous collisions involve the front of the car being damaged therefore you are more likely to be unhurt/survive if you're in the back.

Hang on, is actually illegal to put a child in the front seat in the appropriate car seat with the airbag deactivated? I thought this was okay to do? genuine question, I see loads of parents on the school drop off with kids in the front seat.

I really wouldn't judge someone in the slightest for doing something that was perfectly legal. Their kid, their decision.

If it is illegal, I'm prepared to ramp up the judgey pants and stand pearl clutching at the school gates.

I have a question someone might be able to answer?

Which is safer (or less dangerous at least)

An 8 year old sitting in the front in a high back booster or the 8year old sitting in the back with no booster and because it doesn't fit between the 2 other child car seats (and as per car seat rules can sit with out a booster as it doesn't fit in the space)

With my first I didn't know you weren't supposed to-I genuinely thought that was the best place to put her

Lets face it, it doesn’t matter wtf you do as a parent because someone will always be a judgemental twat

As above really. My six year old sits in the front. He suffers from travel sickness in the back. We drive a volvo so I feel reassured about safety. Is this a goady thread?

This is a genuine question: can you show me the evidence it's safer under typical conditions (ie seat belts, booster seats and air bags appropriately turned on/off) for back seats versus front seats for different ages?

Passenger seat safety features such as airbags are designed to protect an adult a male body, and as such may not work well for a young child woman.

Worth bearing this in mind as well. At 5'2" and a size 10 I'm about the same size as the tallest of DD's friends (she's 11). Even with the drivers seat as high as it can go and the seatbelt adjusted down it regularly slips off my shoulder. Maybe I should goin the back as well? Or maybe car safety features should be tested with a variety of dummy sizes.

The seatbelt in DHs car cuts across my throat, should I be in a booster?

Who the hell honestly cares??! People have the right to parent as they choose. As long as child is fastened in and in an appropriate car seat then it is their buisness/choice. We are a family of four children and two adults, we have one seven seater and one five seater car - it's way it goes. It's very harsh and tbh a petty thing to be judgy over.

@Biscusting it's perfectly legal to seat a child of any age in the front of a car, as long as the child is in the correct seat/restraint for their weight and age. If the seat is a rear facing seat, the airbag MUST be switched OFF if present. When forward facing, the airbag doesn't HAVE to be switched OFF but it's advisable to make sure the seat is moved as far back from the dash as possible.

All the above also depends on the car manufacturers instructions on which seats in the car can actually take a child restraint.

if you are thrown forward but restrained then how is it more dangerous in the front?

For someone shorter than the average man the risk is of suffication with an airbag I think. Prepared to be corrected.

Yes I let my child sit in the front because that’s where she wants to sit and I like the company. It makes for a more fun car ride for both of us and we can converse better plus she gets a better view of what’s in front.

I don’t care if I’m judged for it.

My child was in the front seat from 10 and about 140cm as his booster seat had become uncomfortable and the rear seatbelt in my car didn't yet fit him well, the front one did. So he was in the front with the seat as far back as it would go, away from the airbag.

DD always sat in the front. We travelled far and wide for years, chatting, playing eye spy and listening to audio books. Some of our best conversations took place while driving along. Great memories. Never occurred to me to put her in the back.

I can't fit 3 child seats across the back, so oldest goes in the front. Only short (30 mph limit) local journeys, though. We have a 7 seater for longer, faster journeys.

Well yes in an ideal world they would all be in the back.

What I think is very poor though is how few narrow cars there are to fit three in the back. We don't have a particularly small car, but finding three that fit in the back is very hard... Only found one company, which are of course super expensive.

The people I know who have one in the front have 3 kids.

*narrow car seats

I do it mostly when we're inn the snall car because my eldest had some SEN and i never know when he's going to suddenly lose his shit and wallop his sister, scream or start throwing things into the front to get attention. Car journeys are much safer when they're separated. I'm feeling anxious just thinking about having thrm both in thr back when I'm driving alone.
(It was much better in DH's big car. RIP. If there's two adults then the passenger can keep a weather eye on the back and spot when emotions are getting heated.)

Trust me. I know it's less safe than both in the back, but i take a risk assessment based on DSs mood esch time we drive somewhere and often splitting them up is the safer option.

I had no idea it was considered less safe in the front so it never occurred to me it would be a problem.

I still will allow one of them to go in the front though as I have a 4 seater car with 3 kids so one of them has to go there.