car safety

[elana]

i would like to know the minimum age and size requirement for a child to sit in the front seat. there are front and side airbags.
we live in israel, so the requirements might be different than in america.

[CPSDarren]

Statistics in the USA support keeping all kids age 12 and under in the back seat. The back is farther from a frontal crash, the most common and severe type of impact. Technically, the back is safer for all passengers of any age, but especially for younger kids.

According to the Center for Disease Control:


"All children ages 12 years and younger should ride in the back seat, the safest part of a vehicle in the event of a crash. This is especially important for vehicles with front passenger-side airbags. Riding in the back seat is associated with at least a 30% reduction in the risk of fatal injury in cars without front passenger side airbags. Placing children in the back seat of vehicles with front passenger side airbags reduces this risk by 46%. Infants in rear-facing child safety seats should never be placed in a seat in front of an airbag. About one-third of children ages 12 years and younger who were killed in 2000 were riding in the front seat.

I don't know about the laws or safety standards in Israel, but the laws of Physics are the same, so I suspect the age recommendations shouldn't change much from country to country.