Front seats collapsing in a crash

How common is it for front seats to collapse onto children in the backseat in crashes? Is there data on this? I'm asking because I was reading this article (actually searching to see if there was a way to report unrestrained children in Oregon the way there is in some other states, so far have come up empty-handed):

http://www.luhs.org/depts/injprev/Transprt/tran2-02.htm

Judith Lee Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, made some recommendations to the NHTSA, one of them being, "NHTSA should upgrade the seat back strength standard to protect against injuries from front seats collapsing onto children in the rear seat".

I probably wouldn't be overly concerned, but I'm considering buying a Husky for my dd next month, and we drive a small-ish car, a 1991 Honda Accord. There isn't a whole lot of leg room in the backseat to begin with, I know the Husky will fit, but it will hang over the edge of the backseat just a bit, making my dd's legs and feet pretty close to the front seats. When I saw this article, it got me worried about the Husky in this situation.

Any techs have some info for me? Or if there's no actual statistics or certifiable information, at least some advice for me, lol?

I don't have statistics, but there has been concern about this. Fortunately, severe rear-end crashes are not common, only around 5% of all serious crashes. That's one reason why putting a child behind the passenger seat may be slightly better than behind the driver- there may not be a heavy adult in that seat that would cause it to fail.

It's good to know that only 5% are the type of crashes that cause this to happen, that helps me worry a bit less, if that's even possible, lol.

I had posed a question on another board about where I should put the Husky, I was considering the outboard passenger side, for a few reasons...so a backseat passenger could comfortable fit in driver outboard position (I know passengers would be extremely squished with the Husky in the middle), so I could fit another carseat (I know this wouldn't work with the Husky in the middle), and to keep me from having to move it from the center to the outboard every time anyone else traveled with us. The advice I got was to keep the seat in the middle though, and move it when necessary, because of the leg room issue, and also because of head excursion, and how close the front seats would be to my dd in the Husky.

I am the usual driver, and am not overly tall, right about 5'5". Ocassionally dh will drive, and he is 6'1". He pushes the driver's seat waaaaay back. We only ride all together 2-4 times a month, and most of those times I am the driver and dh is the passenger, so the passenger seat would be scooted all the way back in those instances.

Should I install the seat center, outboard driver side, or outboard passenger side? Outboard driver side just doesn't seem safe; don't most accidents occur on the driver's side of the car?

I am leaning towards outboard passenger, for all the reasons I listed above, and I could just move it center when dh is a passenger. Does this sound right? (I am driving myself absolutely INSANE with this Husky issue...do I get it or don't I? Marathon or Husky? We want the Husky, but there's just SO MUCH to consider when it's going into a small car!)

I agree with you on that last part there I don't have a big car either but I want the seat for him! We have brandon behind the passenger b/c when Michael does drive he does put the seat all the way back and he doesn't even touch Ashton. But very few time's and he has rode as a passenger and I'm not really sure if he could get it all the way back or not. I like you drive the car more b/c of the kids and he has his work car.

The center is safest if you can fit a carseat there. Keep in mind that the front seats will also be moving forward in a crash, so to some extent that may not be a factor. Even so, the farther the better.

Side to side there isn't a lot of difference. You might also visit this entry in the FAQ:

http://www.car-safety.org/faq.html#Q40

That said, my son ride on the passenger side in his Husky and my daughter rear-facing behind the driver in a Wizard. With a properly installed and used 5-point carseat, the risks of side impact injuries should be much less. A backless booster would be a different story. I personally wouldn't use one in an outboard position on a daily basis unless I had no other choice.