Jeep Wrangler backseat safety?

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nola9

Guest
I have a jeep wrangler and a 2 month old son. After a near miss rear ender by a large delivery truck...I am questioning the safety of a rear facing car seat in the back seat of my wrangler. I have no doubt that if the truck had actually hit us, it probably would have killed my child. There is no real buffer between the rear end and back seat not to mention the large windows on all sides. Does anyone have any information on back seat safety in wranglers in rear end collisions? Thanks!
 
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Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Some crashes are unsurvivable for any occupant....

Rear-end collisions account for less than 10% of crashes: keeping your child RF until the maximum limits is still very much recommended in your vehicle.

If you have an airbag shut off switch then kiddo could be RF in the front seat instead, but a recent University study shows the back seat up to 86% safer than front seat (traditional data states about 40% safer). However, this also puts other occupants at risk if your backseat has no head support (occupant's who are tall enough such that the top of their ears are above the vehicle seatback should be in the front to help reduce spinal injury risk).

The only other safe alternative is simply not to let the child ride in this vehicle.

Under no circumstance should your child face the front of the vehicle until AT LEAST 12 months and (not or) 20 pounds. Click my signature pictures for my website with info on why.
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
We also have a Jeep Wrangler that our 4-yr-old son has been riding in since birth. Is this the main vehicle that your child rides in? If so, then I would consider having the passenger airbag disconnected and move him to the front seat. We did not do that b/c he mainly rides with me - the Wrangler is my husband's vehicle. But if he were to ride in it every day, then that's what I would do.

There are a couple of other folks on here with Jeep Wranglers and children in the back seat. I'm sure they'll chime in here, too :)
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
I realize a close call with a truck nearly rear ending the Jeep can be scary, but I wouldn't go so far as to turn the child forward facing or install the child's carseat in the front seat. A rear facing car seat would offer superior protection over forward facing due to the physics of rear facing in any crash. The back seat is statistically safer for any passenger because frontal collisions are statistically the most common type of crash, while rear end collisions are among the least frequent type of crash. Severe rear end collisions tend to be even rarer since the vehicles involved are usually traveling in the same direction and/or may be already slowing down prior to actually colliding. The farther away you or your passengers are from the windshield, pillars, and engine block, etc. in a frontal crash, the less likely you are to be injured or worse if you are properly restrained.

Quoting from one of my previous posts on the topic: "Given the greater likelihood of a frontal crash vs. a rear end crash, I probably would argue for restraining a child in the back seat even if the vehicle were an old recalled 1970s model Ford Pinto, notorious for bursting into flames when rear ended due to a gas tank design flaw. :) Then again, I'd rather walk than drive a Pinto. ;) But seriously, if the Wrangler has a back seat and a compatible child carseat can be properly installed there, the back seat would be the place for a child to ride."

Hope this helps reassure the original poster and puts the scary close call in perspective a bit more.
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
Jean,

You do bring up some good points. The truth is we've never really thought about putting Nolan in the front or not b/c he is in our Jeep so little these days - he used to ride in it alot more when he was a baby. It is very close, though, to the back bumper. However, what you said makes sense b/c not only are rear crashes much less common but they are usually much less force than frontal crashes. Perhaps I need to retract the certainty with which I made my recommendation... :eek:

Where's Joy (SkipSpin)? She has two in the backseat, I think...

Maria
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Right, Joy/Skipspin has posted pictures of her DD riding RF in the back of her Jeep in other Jeep-related threads. She has another baby due very soon. :)

Papooses, I don't remember Wendy posting before about Piper's seat installed in a Jeep. I think you may be confusing Joy's DD with Piper. Both are curly haired blonde cuties. :D
 
N

nola9

Guest
Thanks for the imput :)
The jeep is about half and half with my husbands sedan. It seems that disregard for speed limits and tail-gating is a pretty normal practice in this area, Im afraid....so it made me wonder. Someone pointed out also that the spare tire is there...so maybe that would buffer an impact a little? My jeep is old enough that there are no air bags. Maybe some clear tape across the windows on the sides and back would help in a situation where it might otherwise shatter and fly - is that a silly thought?

The sight of a big truck's grill suddenly filling my rear view mirror scared the heck out of me.

:eek:
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Papooses, I don't remember Wendy posting before about Piper's seat installed in a Jeep. I think you may be confusing Joy's DD with Piper. Both are curly haired blonde cuties. :D
Definitely possible -- I might have also mixed Rebekah up in there somehow ... I think she used to have a Wrangler :confused: :rolleyes:

Nola9: no comment on the tape (hopefully another tech will have something useful for you on that), but yes driving can be scarey :eek: If you are capable of uninstalling/reinstalling so that the seat has that correct less than 1" movement at belt path then letting kiddo ride in the front when there are no other passengers is your parental decision. Only you know if this would help ease your mind to reduce driver distraction enough to reduce risk of crash :) However, to more equally distribute safety for all passengers, kiddo should be in the back whenever another passenger rides who does not fit a carseat so this passenger has the protection offered by the headrest.
 

skipspin

New member
I'm here. I'm here. LOL.

Yes, our DD rides in the back of the Jeep. It's not a primary vehicle, but some (nice) days I choose to take it into town or wherever I am going. I actually almost took it to the zoo today since it's about 80', but decided against it. (I'm 9 months pg and it has a lift and big tires...I can still do it, but the fun is getting a little painful.)

DD was RFing in the baskseat in her Wizard till she was 32/33 lb at around 2.5. I feel that's the safest way for her to ride in the Wrangler. Our infant seat doesn't work unless there is no front passenger and I really like the RFing tether on the WZ anyway. (It's like the Britax Boulevard.) Now that she can't RF anymore she rides FFing in a Recaro Young Sport harnessed. The baby will go RFing in the Wizard as soon as he/she fits well.

As far as the glass I don't know. We always have either the soft top or no top when we go out. If the glass isn't already shatterproof I believe that getting it tinted would mostly hold it together in the event of something breaking it.

I don't think the Wrangler is a convienient "baby" vehicle, although getting kids in and out isn't bad with the top off IMO. Many seats don't fit well, so that's something else to work around. I can't see how it's too much more dangerous than many very small cars or 3rd rows in SUVs that are right at the back window as far as a rear collision. We had a close call with a Dodge Ram Van almost rear-ending us at 70 MPH on the highway. We were stopped. It was scary. DH actually pulled off the highway into the ditch so the van didn't hit us and it almost hit the car that was in front of us. DD was under 1 and in the back seat. Even after that, I still know the backseat is the safest place and want to keep her there!

Here are some photos that I have:
Rear-facing:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car Seats/446923b1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car Seats/21f18374.jpg
Forward facing
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car Seats/af232e63.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car Seats/fbcc3a6b.jpg

ETA: Our Jeep is a 97, so it has two front airbags, neither of which have off switches. My mom has a 99 that DD has been in (off-road anway) and my little brother has a 95 that she has never been in. (No particular reason, except that she isn't allowed to ride with a 16 yr old no matter if he's her uncle or not and he's usually driving.)
 
B

Berta

Guest
IIHS gives the Jeep Wrangler 2 out of five stars for rear passenger safety. As far as rear end collisions being rarer than front end collisions that won't matter if you are one of the ones involved in a rear end crash and your child is killed. I was rear ended at high speeds within just a few years apart and have never been involved in a front end cash. Either of the crashes I was in may have beeen fatal had I been in a Jeep Wrangler with a child in the back seat. I would not allow my husband to haul my child in the back of one of these vehicles. One should not take the attitude in a case like this that it's not likely to happen or it won't happen to me. If it does, it's too late, and I think that's a too late none of us want to experience. It's just not worth taking that kind of risk with the life of your child.
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
IIHS gives the Jeep Wrangler 2 out of five stars for rear passenger safety.

Unlike the IIHS frontal offset and side impact tets, the IIHS rear crash protection rating is not an actual crash test. It is a subjective evaluation of the geometry of certain seats (not all seats or variations are necessarily evaluated) and sometimes a dynamic simulation of how well the head restraints work. This is done for an average sized adult dummy at typical seat and head restraint settings.

So, it is completely meaningless for children in child safety seats with a 5-point harness or high back boosters, all of which provide integral head restraint.

As far as rear end collisions being rarer than front end collisions that won't matter if you are one of the ones involved in a rear end crash and your child is killed. I was rear ended at high speeds within just a few years apart and have never been involved in a front end cash.

Relative frequency of crash types are taken over tens of thousands of crashes. While your anecdotal incidents may vary, that doesn't change the statistics. For example, you may be left handed, but that doesn't prove that the majority of people are not right handed. In addition, sampling only yourself introduces other variables like your driving habits that could make you more prone to being rear-ended. These types of variables generally wash out with a large number of samples over a wide demographic.

Either of the crashes I was in may have beeen fatal had I been in a Jeep Wrangler with a child in the back seat.

Unfortunately, we have no crash testing that allows us to compare how vehicles fare in rear-end crashes. Jeep Wranglers may be worse than average or better than average. The size of a vehicle does not necessarily reflect how well designed it is to crush and absorb impact forces.

I would not allow my husband to haul my child in the back of one of these vehicles. One should not take the attitude in a case like this that it's not likely to happen or it won't happen to me. If it does, it's too late, and I think that's a too late none of us want to experience. It's just not worth taking that kind of risk with the life of your child.

If only we had a conclusive crash testing rating to allow us to know for sure. The reason we do not have this is because fatal rear end crashes are relatively uncommon. Most funding is therefore put into areas known to significantly reduce severe injuries and deats, like seatbelt use, impaired driving and crash protection from frontal and side impacts.
 

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