12 yr old sitting in front seat

My son is 12 yrs old 5'3 105 lbs. I make him sit in the back of both of our cars. He knows the rules. Well....he takes a ride with Grandpa and sits in the front. It's a P/U truck with the extended cab so it's not like he HAD to sit up there. My dad argues that the airbag was turned off and he's big enough. I want to send him video or something regarding the safety of the back seat. It says right on the sun visor 12 and under are safer in the back. Told him that and of course all I heard was "well back in the day........." I am so tired of pleading my case with my parents and the in-laws.

It's a hard call -- if there aren't any headrests in the back, I'd prefer the front (for a kid who no longer fits a booster)....

Here's an interesting study focusing on the need to develop better rear seat-belt mechanisms, but it presents some information on front versus back seat safety for restrained occupants as well. Unfortunately it doesn't totally support you in your argument.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv19/05-0212-O.pdf

The back seat is definitely safer for restrained 9-12 year olds than the front seat with the air bag OFF. However there is no statistically significant benefit to the back seat versus the front seat with the air bag ON for restrained 9-12 year olds. The crash tests they did indicated that smaller people (5th percentile female sized) are as likely to benefit from better front seat belt design as from sitting in the back.

The reason for those warnings about children 12 and under sitting in the back seat is because UNRESTRAINED children have a greatly increased risk if there is an air bag.

In an extended cab pickup it is quite likely that the front seat is just as safe for your son IF you turn the air bag ON. (I'm assuming this truck has a manual switch, because I am smaller than your son and the air bag is always on when I ride in newer vehicles.)

However, I'd be peeved at both son and grandpa; they should respect your rules. It is not as if they presented a reasoned argument as to why it would be a good idea to sit in the front seat. It's your call what you want to do about it. It's certainly not unsafe to sit in the rear seat, especially if there is adequate head restraint.

By the way, GRANDPA is definitely as safe or safer in the front. People over 50 should ride in the front if possible, preferably with an air bag. The rest of us are generally as safe or safer in the back, although for the petite among us, it may be a toss up. There just isn't enough data to call it.

Julie D.

From the rules perspective, I totally agree.

At the same time, I'm 5'4" and weighed just 105 until my DD weaned 2 yrs ago and I gained 10 lbs. (and then got pg and gained more, then lost it all, back to 114 now...) so I'm barely bigger than your ds, and I always ride in the front. Sure, technically, we're all safer in the back.
In the front though, at his size, I'd definitely want that airbag on. Unless he's quite leggy and short torsoed.

but yeah, discipline-wise, i'm right there with you. But safety wise, I think in this case, it's a pretty gray area.

I was the OP to the thread but I had to register to keep going on this thread...So I'm now a member!

The reason I was always telling him he needed to be in the back even though he's not a small kid was because I remember sometime back hearing on the news that the child body even if it's adult in height and weight is not as mature as a older child like a teenager. Meaning the bones and muscles. This was when a study was done and they were trying to raise the age to 14 or 15 to sit up front.

Papooses,

There are headrests in the back. It's a full size cab. The ones with 4 doors.

At what age did you let your child/ren sit up front with just a seat belt? In our cars we have airbags.