Mazda5 3rd seat safety in rear impact

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lucyjodad

New member

• Jul 15, 2011

• #1

hi, first time poster here. We have a 2009 Mazda5 that we've been very happy with. However, we will be having a third child before long and I am concerned about the safety of the third row. Specifically, we now live in Miami and there is a very high number of insane drivers here who go 20 mph over the spend limit while sending text messages. I'm worried about one of them rear-ending me at a stoplight with my child in the third row. As many of you own Mazda5's, you know that the space between that third seat and the rear hatch is very small. (Actually this applies to a lot of cars with 3rd row seats but little to no cargo space behind it). I'd feel a lot safer with a 3-across arrangement and nice trunk or large cargo space between my kids and the rear of the vehicle. What do you think?
thanks

 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician

• Jul 15, 2011

• #2

I don't have a Mazda 5, but this is a great article about the safety of third rows: http://carseatblog.com/91/the-third-row-is-it-safe-for-kids/

 

macmomma

New member

• Jul 15, 2011

• #3

I have one in my driveway right now ( a rental while my Explorer is getting fixed)- to be honest, that car scares me to death I can not even fit an umbrella stroller in the back when all the seats are up.... I have the two car seats in the middle row.... don't even want to put my teen in the third row

 

macmomma

New member

• Jul 15, 2011

• #4

Plus, in my opinion, it also matters what kind of car it is. I do have two seats installed in the third row in my Explorer (we always have extra foster kids at the house so it just stays installed) and I am not nearly as nervous about the kids being in the third row then I am in the Mazda5

 

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lucyjodad

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #5

Thanks for the link and comments. I agree that a good carseat mitigates a lot of the concerns about 3rd-row seat quality. There is also evidence that it is actually safer than the second row. However this was mentioned in one of the links "Finally, vehicles with well over a foot of space between the 3rd row seat and rear hatch may have an advantage over those with just a few inches separating passengers from the rear of the vehicle."

Note it says "may". So nothing clear cut. Unfortunately our 2009 Mazda5 is the last year they made it without stability control. Another reason to replace perhaps. Unfortunately the IIHS has never tested the Mazda5. Wonder why that is?

Any other Mazda5 owners care to chime in?

 

agave

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #6

I don't have a Mazda 5 but I have been rear ended at stop lights twice in my xB. The most recent the truck went over the bumper and busted the rear windshield. I recently test drove a 5. I want more seating and more space between my kids and the bumper. Had I been in the same accident in a Mazda 5 I'm sure my kids would have been showered in glass if they where in the 3rd row.

 

Pixels

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #7

lucyjodad said:

Unfortunately the IIHS has never tested the Mazda5. Wonder why that is?

Any other Mazda5 owners care to chime in?

Click to expand...

If you're referring to the lack of IIHS rear impact testing, you can rest assured that it would not give you any more information about the safety of the third row than you already have. The IIHS test is simply a measure of head restraint geometry and sometimes performance for the average adult male dummy in the driver's seat. They even take the seat out of the vehicle in order to do their testing, so there's no measure of the vehicle's performance in managing crash energy.

Vehicles simply are not tested for actual rear impacts in any way that we can compare. I certainly hope that most if not all vehicles are tested by their manufacturers during development, but those results are rarely released in an form.

 

Babywearing Meghan

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #8

this scares me to think about cause we have to use the third row of our sorento. I don't love having her back there but my center seat position is unusable due to the position of the seatbelt, unless there is only one seat there.. so I can't three across it.

 

Babywearing Meghan

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #9

LISmama810 said:

I don't have a Mazda 5, but this is a great article about the safety of third rows: http://carseatblog.com/91/the-third-row-is-it-safe-for-kids/

Click to expand...

thanks for this article.. that helps.. I remember being in my friends minivan in 8th grade with her mom driving her her little sister in the 3rd row and my friend was trying to scare her sister about it, her sister was getting upset.. and her mother (RIP Serras mom) was so mad at her about it.

 

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teekadog

Active member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #10

We have 3 kids and will soon have 4 in our 07 Mazda5. I was also worried about putting a child in the 3rd row, so we test drove larger minivans first. We went with the 5 after a test drive because it was apparent that we had much better handling with a small car. That feeling has been proved out more than once as we have had to quickly get out of the way of cars that might possibly rear-end us. With our small responsive car we have been able to pull into places that larger minivans could not go- without causing accidents of their own. I am now so comfortable with it that often 2 of my 3 kids sit in the 3rd row. I do find I keep a closer eye on the rearview mirror to monitor traffic behind me more closely. And the rare occasion I've driven a car with my kids in a 3-across has been so distracting, it was almost unsafe in its own right!

Also, my Maclaren Volo umbrella stroller fits fine in the rear hatch.

 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus

• Jul 16, 2011

• #11

I really try not to worry much about it. Most rear-impact crashes are not terribly high-speed, and vehicles are designed to withstand lower-speed impacts really well, regardless of where you get hit. There's a good chance that my 3rd-row riders are less protected in a rear-impact crash, but there's also a good chance that my passenger-side riders are less protected if get hit on that side, yk? If I start worrying about who rides closest to the point of any given impact, we'd all have to say home!

I just remind myself that I don't get to pick what kind of crash I get into (except that it won't be caused by my drunk-driving or texting on my cell phone!) and that I'm influencing the factors I can control by making sure they're properly restrained, every ride.

 

luckyclov

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #12

There are quite a few members here who drive 5s, some of whom use the 3rd row regularly. It's a well-liked vehicle.

If it's something that's overly concerning for you, maybe you could PM them and ask for their thoughts (skipspin, wendythomas, defrost, luvmycharlie always pop into my head first).

As far as evidence in testing, there isn't rear-impact testing available on ANY vehicle, not just the 5.

You can absolutely fit an umbrella stroller in the rear with the 3rd row up. And you can fit a couple other things on top of and aside the stroller. The headrests raise as well. I used to own an '08 and it was one of my favorite vehicles. It performed well and I felt like I had total control, which made me a much more confident driver. I felt safest in my 5 than any of my minivans.

 

amyd

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #13

I also have a 5 (2010). I don't use my third row daily as I only have 2 children but I'd feel comfortable doing so if needed. I don't plan on a larger vehicle unless we have 3 more kids (which isn't likely). I feel very much the same way as Debbie (defrost) does about it. And yes, you can definitely fit an umbrella stroller behind the third row. My Baby Jogger City Mini Double fits with the wheels off.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

jessi f

New member

• Jul 16, 2011

• #14

I drive a 2009 Mazda5 too. I it and feel comfortable using the 3rd row. The blog article linked to above really is a good one about the topic.

We're more likely to be involved in a high speed side impact crash than a rear one and we dont expect cars to have several feet of extra space between the doors and the passengers. That's just my own personal view on the issue, so I dont know how valid it is. It just makes sense to me

 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician

• Jul 17, 2011

• #15

IIHS has not tested this car at all, at least hadn't last time I checked. Not just for rear impacts, but for nothing. Probably not enough cars in the same category to compare it to?
However, it's been tested to whatever Euro and Japan NCAP testing standards there are, and it performs very well in those arenas.

There's no evidence that small cars like this actually have higher fatality or injury rates for the third row than big cars, it's just a theoretical at this point that bigger cars 'may' be safer. Being showered with tempered glass is not a huge injury risk, that's why cars have tempered glass. In an accident worse than that, well, honestly, not all crashes are survivable in all cars, you just have to balance risks and benefits and drive as safely as you can.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Jul 17, 2011

• #16

I have no problem with DS in his booster in the third row of our Highlander. There's not a lot of distance to the back hatch. Maybe 8" or so.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=37243

 

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lucyjodad

New member

• Jul 17, 2011

• #17

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think it's a good point that there is a lot less distance between outboard doors on a side impact, which tend to be higher speed than rear impact.

We really like our 5. So I think we're going to keep it! (Just wish they hadn't waited until 2010 to put stability control in it. grrrr)