There have been quite a few threads on this over the past few years. There has been an article in the BMJ advising that rear-facing car seats are safer for children under 4.
Quote from ROSPA website "Research shows they provide greater protection for children up to 18kg (40lbs), and RoSPA supports calls to make these rearward-facing seats for older toddlers more widely available here in the UK as it would improve parental choice about the safety of their children."
Toddlers' heads are big and heavy and their necks are weak. The forces involved in a crash tend to put a lot of strain on the necks of babies and young-children in forward-facing seats. For children in rear-facing seats, the forces in a crash distribute the strain over a larger area, and thus subject the body to less strain.
The Sunday Times did an article a few months ago on the benefits of rear-facing seats.
Despite this, most retailers in the UK don't sell them. It's not because they don't exist - the most popular brands of car seat in the UK make rear-facing seats, but sell them only in Scandinavia and mainland Europe where the safety message has permeated better. There are a few specialist centres, but mostly parents have to buy over the internet. John Lewis now sells a rear-fitting seat, but only in-store: it's a start, but it could be better.
If MN had a campaign on this, we could persuade the major retailers to change things. Rear-facing seats already exist and are widely available in parts of Europe. There is a big range available in Scandinavia - ones that will fit in small cars as well as big cars. Parents aren't buying them at the moment because most don't know about them, and the ones that do want a rear-facing seat have to travel a long way to buy and fit one.
Anyone else?