Driver VS Passenger side safety?

Blondie87

New member
So a mama on my Infertility board posted a story about her sister getting into an accident with their baby. Well he was on the passenger side. Then she said this-

Oh ya the point I was getting at was that the pediatrician told my sister to always put your car seat on the driver side. Seems backwards right? Well he said most of the injured children that come in were on the passanger side. That the driver cannot see clearly what is happening on that side of the car so you're more likely to get hit on that side. If you turn left at a light you'll get hit on that side. Oh and if you swerve you're more likely to swerve left cause that's the side of the car the driver is on and the side they can see better. He said that yes it seems silly for getting them in and out of the car if you park on the street but that at least that is something you can be in control of. Don't take them out until the coast is clear. You can't control other drivers. Makes sense when explained that way...

Obviously I know Pediatricians don't know everything, or a whole lot about car seats. But this does make sense. I do know there is a safer outboard side, but it's not that much of a safety difference... Right?
 
ADS

bree

Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
I must be a very jaded cynic, because my first thought was that I very much doubt that an ER pediatrician is taking the time to ask "which side were you sitting on?" of accident victims or their parents and then keeping track of the responses. :eek:

As far as I know, there is little to no difference between the safety of driver vs. passenger side (for instance, statistics might show that one year one might be safer than the other, but then the next year, the other one is safer). I think that's a nice theory by the doctor, but I don't believe that there are accident statistics that support it (at least based on what I've read on this site over the years).

I also don't think drivers are going to swerve to the left just because the driver is on the left; drivers are going to swerve to avoid whatever they need to avoid, so if what they need to avoid is on the left, then they'd have to swerve to the right.
 

Pixels

New member
Some studies show that the driver's side is a smidgeon safer than the passenger's; some studies show that the passenger's side is a smidgeon safer than the driver's. It's a wash.
 

Blondie87

New member
I must be a very jaded cynic, because my first thought was that I very much doubt that an ER pediatrician is taking the time to ask "which side were you sitting on?" of accident victims or their parents and then keeping track of the responses. :eek:

My friend's sister was told that.. so maybe it wasn't an ER doc or they had extra time to talk to her.

I figured as much at what side was safer. Just wanted to make sure, because it does make sense somewhat that the driver could pay a little better attention to his/her side of the car.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
I've been on lots of accidents. I see head on, rear end and each side T boned equally :) I've seen no difference in injuries in kids from where they are sitting (other than the front). If the accident was severe enough to have injuries, it doesn't appear to me to make a difference where they are sitting. Obviously I'm sure there are some nice statistics out tehre but from the "real world" I've seen no real difference. Obviously if there is significant intrusion the child on that side will be injured, but if there were, chances are from the force alone the child will be injured anyways regardless of seating position.
 

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