Using the 3rd row

tl01

New member
Has anyone ever read anything about the safety of riding in the 3rd row of a minivan? This question is not meant to make parents who have to use the 3rd row feel badly... I'm just honestly curious. The Coble family comes to mind sadly as I'm riding in the back of my minivan right now. If you had to put a child in the back, do you think it would be safer to put a RFing or FFing child?
 
ADS

tl01

New member
Here's a good article from CarseatBlog: http://carseatblog.com/91/the-third-row-is-it-safe-for-kids/

Rear-facing is always safer.

I wouldn't use the Cobles as an example of anything other than how some crashes just aren't survivable at all. Only one of those kids was in the third row, but they all died.

Thanks do that article link. I know the Coble family incident is an ultra severe case, it just stands out in my head. You are right... That none of them lived. So sad!
 

karlatta

New member
I really like the article that was posted.

IMO, it's kind of like deciding which side of the car is safer if you're outboard. In some instances, the driver side is safer. In some instances, the passenger side is safer. I am sure that in come collisions, it's better to be in the 2nd row, whereas in other collisions, it's better to be in the 3rd row. Since we can't choose our collision, we do what we can and hope for the best.

And even if something came out that said "the 3rd row is ___% less safe than the second" I'm not sure I could/would do anything about that. There are a LOT of things I do every day that I could do more safely, but practicality wins and I have to just do what I can. (We could stay home on days it rains so that I don't have to drive on wet roads, or we could skip going to the park so that my son wouldn't fall off the playscape, but that's not really reasonable, and avoiding sitting my children in the 3rd row isn't reasonable either.)
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
If you had to put a child in the back, do you think it would be safer to put a RFing or FFing child?

It makes sense to me to put the RFers in the second row, and the FFers in the third row... that puts the most protection nearest any point of collision. (ie, the seats closest the front have the shell facing the front, seats closest to the back have the shell facing the back.) But that's just what makes sense in my head, it's not what I know as a tech, nothing at all was ever said in my tech class about such a thing.

And that said, the only feasable setup in my life requires two or three RFers in my third row. Occasionally I think about it and wish it were different, but I know there's a crumple zone back there and they're as safe as they can be in my vehicle with my set of seats and passengers.

(I have two families in my care who each have three children; their youngest rides in the second row and the older two in the third row, and it's never occurred to me to recommend that they avoid that and put the kids three-across the second row, which is an easy option in one of the cases.)
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
If you had to put a child in the back, do you think it would be safer to put a RFing or FFing child?

Rear-facing is always safer.

Duh, I'm sorry. When I replied last night, I thought you were asking if it would be better to put the KID RF. (Like, if the kid could RF, would it somehow be safer if they were FFing in the 3rd row.) Now I realize that's not what you meant. I was tired.

Anyway, yeah, I'm not sure it makes a difference. I suppose we'd go with the idea of putting the most-protected kid in the least protected position, but is a kid in the center of the third row safer than a kid outboard in the second row?

I'd just do whatever worked best.
 

luckyclov

New member
It makes sense to me to put the RFers in the second row, and the FFers in the third row... that puts the most protection nearest any point of collision. (ie, the seats closest the front have the shell facing the front, seats closest to the back have the shell facing the back.)
Same here.

I have my 53-ish lb harnessed child and my RF 22-lb child in the 2nd row. My 63-lb HBB'erd child is in the 3rd row. That's the set-up I'm most comfortable with - it has little to do with convienence and everything to do with logic (atleast logic in the way *my* brain is wired). When the time comes that my oldest has 5-stepped, or atleast "graduated" to a LBB, hopefully my DD will be HBB mature - then she'll move to the 3rd row, and the oldest will move to the 2nd row.
 

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