Personally, it doesn't bother me. Then again my kids sit criss cross and aren't close to the sides of a vehicle like in a car(captains seat and middle bench in minivans)
However, I've always had a very different outlook on crashes. Because I see them every single day. I think some of us get so wrapped up in statistics and crash test data and crash videos and "what ifs" we lose sight of the big picture, and that is real world data. What is "really" happening in the real world. Not what's happening in data with a 25 mph crash causing this much head excursion and this many g's of force, and this size child in this size restraint with this head protection and that harness and this booster and so on and so on. Soon we think so hard our heads start spinning and we lose sight of what is really happening in the real world during collisions.
I've been on many many crashes. Hundreds probably. Everything from rural 65 mph undivided roads, to Milwaukee freeways, to urban freeways with no medians, to city intersections, to rural country roads to subdivisions. More than I can count.
And while I have been on numerous fatal accidents of adults, out of those hundreds of accidents, I've been on 3, yes THREE, fatal accidents involving children. And TWO with serious injury. The fatal accidents were non survivable. Didn't matter if they were in the best seat and everything was 100%. No human could have survived it. The serious injury, one was un restrained, one was a 2 year old in a backless booster.
I've seen a good amount of moderate injuries-cuts, broken bones, concussions, nothing major. A trip to the ER and home. Yes you don't want your child hurt and to that parent it's a major ordreal, but overall, they are minor injuries in the grand scheme of things.
The vast majority of children in crashes I've seen have been unhurt. Very very few have had serious injury or death. In hundreds of accidents. I also worked in a level 2 trauma center ER as a nurse for the past 6 years. I think we admitted maybe 4 children in that time period for injuries after an accident. The rest went home after xrays, CT's, stitches etc.
And I can guarantee, without a doubt, that almost every single child in an accident I've seen has been improperly restrained. Either the seat wasn't tight, wasn't the right size, was in a booster too soon, forward facing too soon, cheap/expired/broken/recalled seats, loose harness, belly clips, everything you can imagine. Yet, even though they were improperly restrained, we still aren't seeing the injuries frequently
Out of all those children I've seen in accidents, overall, very few have been hurt seriously. Yes, a cut here and there, or a broken wrist or something, but for not being properly restrained, not anything even remotely serious seems to be happening. Even in serious collisions which are rare to begin with. Most collissions are not serious(high speed, significant intrustion, T bone, etc). Yes, there are still many but in the grand scheme of how many accidents happen every day in this country, most are not serious. And even in those serious ones, kids aren't dying by the droves. Yes, many many kids die every year from collissions. But in the grand scheme of how many kids overall are involved in accidents every day, it's a low percentage.
I see accidents every day. I'm not seeing kids with internal decapitation, I'm not seeing submarining 3 year olds in boosters with seatbelt syndrome (and no one harnesses past 3 or so here), I'm not seeing legs chopped off in side impacts, I'm not seeing boosters flying around cars hitting and killing people, I'm not seeing kids seriously injured by leaning forward for a cup at the moment of impact. Do they happen? Yes. most definately. Is it common overall? No.
Now, that doesn't mean don't properly restrain your child. As parents we MUST properly restrain our child to give them the best chance of survival. Now, should we analyze every crash test and video and data and think and think about every possible horrible scenerio until our head is a blubbery mess?? No.
Like Jools said, yes it could happen. In the right circumstances maybe it could. But real life data isn't showing that in the big picture. There aren't massive amounts of children with chopped off legs (yes I knwo ERF is new still). There aren't huge amounts of submarining children. There aren't kids whacking their heads on front seat in Marathons. There aren't huge amounts of kids being ejected after their harness rips out. Despite almost no one still ERFing, there aren't huge amounts of children with internal decapitation. In studies and testing, yes it sometimes happens and we get those studies sent to us. But in the real world, a lot of this stuff isn't a huge problem. Despite almost always being improperly restrained, most children in accidents are not suffering catastrophic injury. I see this leg over the edges thing as the same deal. Yes. It could happen. Yes the video shows the crash test. However, in most crashes would it happen? In a side impact that child's legs are not gonna stay in that spot. They are gonna be flying all over and chances are won't be impacted.
I think crashes are a very scary foreign thing to most people. All you hear about are the awful crashes on the news. We only get sent the statistics. We only get sent the crash videos. We only get sent the horrible news stories. We only see the horrible stories online and in the news. You don't really see the every day crashes that happen every day. But when you are one of the ones who sees them every day, it makes it much less scary. That's why I don't freak out about parents turning forward facing at 34 pounds and not buying a new seat. Or sitting there worrying about their 39.5pound child going into a booster and waffling back and forth between seats. Or spending time sticking a pen in a harness slot and worrying about if it's "at" or "a smidge above". Or taking off shoes and clothes to make sure you don't go past 34.95 lbs. Or worry if the lapbelt on the booster is 1/4 cm too high. Or stressing over which child to put in which position. I rarely sit and stress over things like that. Because to me, real world data in all sorts of accidents, is not showing the catastrophic injuries. These injuries are the exception, not the rule. And our kids ARE properly restrained, meaning their chance of overall severe injury is slim to begin with.
For example-yesterday we had 5 accidents (first nice day in a long time makes for stupid drivers) and 2 already today.
Yesterday-
Drunk lady drives 40 mph straight towards the firehouse and turns at the last second striking a tree. No injury. Taken to the ER for an eval.
Semi driver also drunk carrying 9000 pounds of lead rolls over on a highway. He is trapped. Has a laceration to his leg. He was not restrained. Taken to the ER for stitches.
Car is T boned by a car going straight because they tried to cut across without enough room. Hit at about 25 mph. 8" of intrusion. Two 16 year olds inside were not injured and signed AMA (with parents approval). 75 year old in the other car was not injured
Motorcycle vs car. Motorcycle driver signed AMA. Driver in the car was not injured.
Child with no helmet hit by a car at a low rate of speed. Had scratches. Signed AMA
Today-
Car rear ended by a car going about 20 mph. Car that was hit had an infant in a bucket and a 4 year old in a booster (high back). Infant was not properly restrained. 4 year old looked to be large enough. Neither was injured. Mom said she had a sore neck and went to the ER to be evaluated. Other driver complained of shoulder pain and signed.
Another T bone car was travelling about 45 mph when it struck the car that cut across-we have a LOT here!. Car that was struck had a possible broken wrist on the side that was hit. Other driver had lacerations on her face from the airbag and some bruising from the seatbelt. Both went in. Both will be out by night fall.
So, those were real life crashes. Some were more severe than others. No one was seriously hurt. And we repeat this day after day.
So for me, since I see this everyday, it puts things more into perspective and gives me a reality check. These children are not dying or being mutilated by the droves. Most children don't sustain injuries or sustain minor to moderate injuries. Even when completley improperly restrained.
So try to keep that in mind. Yes, all these scenerios *could* happen and you want to protect your kids the best you can. But the chances of that type of accident happening are slim to begin with, the chance that your child's legs will be in that exact position at that time is even slimmer, and the chances of that particular injury is even slimmer still. Sometimes crash test data and testing just doesn't line up with real world crashes. No one knows why. And add in the fact that you child is more properly restrained than 90% of her peers and you fare even better
Don't drive yourself crazy with *what ifs* Kids, even improperly restrained children, do well in most accidents.