Children traveling in cars should sit in rear-facing child seats until they are three or four years of age. This is the advice from Volvo, which has been conducting some in-depth research into the dangers and safety aspects of kids in cars.
"Rearward facing child restraints are designed to support the neck and help spread the forces over a larger area in frontal impacts. Frontal impacts are the most frequent and usually the most severe impact situation" said Lotta Jakobsson, Child Safety Specialist at Volvo Cars.
"In a frontal impact a rearward facing child's whole body is supported, which minimises relative movements between the head and torso.
"For more than 35 years, Volvo Cars is doing extensive research based on real life accidents. These studies show beyond doubt that the safest way for small children to travel in cars is facing the rear."
But that runs contrary to the advice issued by the Road Safety Authority here in Ireland, which states that rear-facing seats are appropriate for children weighing up to around 13kg, which equates to around 15 months. Forward facing seats, according to the RSA, are appropriate for children once they hit around 9kg, depending on their height. No mention is made of a rear-facing seat for children older than 15 months, and a trawl of retail outlets failed to turn up one that would be suitable for a child of that size and age.
But the Volvo people are adamant. "Forward facing in a frontal impact, the body is restrained by the safety belt while the head moves forward and puts load on the neck. Depending on crash severity and size of the child, this load can be injurious.
- In one severe frontal impact in central Europe two girls were sitting forward facing in the rear seat. The five-year-old sustained a broken leg and spent two weeks in hospital. Her little sister, just ten months old, died from neck injuries. This is a clear example that it is much too early for a ten month old child to travel forward facing" says Lotta Jakobsson.
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