when do you allow front seat riding?

[bnsnyde]

Of course I sit in the front to drive.
I just feel the back is safer, and since we have a perfectly good seat back there, I make good use of it. I tell my husband he's safer back there and he complies. He wants to sit next to the babies anyway and entertain them.

Part of it is habit. I never sat in the front, even in college if my mom was driving. Just plain old habit. I'm tall and husband is 6'4". Brother is 6'6" and I put him in the back too b/c he's my baby brother (he's 26, lol).

There was actually an accident a few months ago in town where 2 older teens hit a tree. The teen passenger in the front seat died, and I thought...if only that kid had sat in the back. Then maybe he would be alive.

 

[Kobain's Mommy]

I'm thinking 12-13 sometime. Here you can get your permit at age 14 and license at 15. Like a PP said it's better for them to see out the front to learn before they get behind the wheel.

 

[tjham]

Well, if you're the mother of my 10 yr old, small for her age, unboostered granddaughter, now!

And then you teach her to say 'I know it's not "recommended", but there's no LAW against it! The airbag is turned off so it's safe!"

 

[babyherder]

I think front seat experience before driving is good. In NY kids get permit's at age 16 so that's part of why I was aiming for 14 with my brother. I would be happier with 15 but 14 was a compromise I was willing to make.

The backseat is always safer (leaving out specific circumstances like lack of headrests or lap belts only) so in an ideal world my passengers would spend a lot more time in the back. But my parents have this thing about two people sitting in the front and keeping each other company and bonding. And my brother wants to be grown up. I like the back seat but my parents give me sad faces if I try to sit there instead of in the front when there's only one of them in the car.

 

[Evolily]

does size play a factor in how safe they are or is it more bone maturity?

It's mostly just that the front seat is much more dangerous, for everyone. But size does play a part, especially with airbags. Overall physical maturity also plays a part, I'm sure, but really the front seat is just statistically much more dangerous.

 

[LISmama810]

I could have sworn someone linked a study a while back showing that for adults, the front seat might actually be safer in modern cars. Seatbelt pretensioners, front and side airbags, and better headrests were among the reasons, I believe. Of course, now that many cars are getting some of those features in the back seat, too, that helps to level the playing field again.

 

[April]

Because they want to? Probably not until at least age 12-13 and over 100lbs. My oldest three have all ridden in the front rather frequently out of necessity in DH's truck. There are 7 of us in our family, and 5 seats in his truck including driver and a lapbelt only. The times when DH has HAD to drive them so one of the oldest goes in front in a backless.

In my van I let my little brothers take turns sitting in the front starting last summer when they were 12 and 15. The 12 year old is 190lbs and 5'9 and I prefer him in the front than in my lapbelt only spot in the third row.
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[Jennee]

Natasha wants to sit in the front seat for occasional, short rides. she turned 12 in march, is 4'3 and 59lbs. I told her the visor thing says 12 and under need to sit in the back so she has to wait till shes 13. she is also still boostered when possible. (I let her sit with no booster if space is an issue)

 

[mommycat]

does size play a factor in how safe they are or is it more bone maturity?

From the article that bree linked (consumeraffairs.com article about a study published in the journal Pediatrics, by Dr. Craig Newgard and Dr. Roger Lewis):

based on the research summarized in this article.

The study found that children 14 and younger were at high risk for serious injury from air bags when they sat in the front passenger seat during car crashes.

In contrast, air bags had a protective effect for teens aged 15-18. And the study showed that age may be a better indicator of risk from air-bag injury than height or weight.

Newgard and co-author Dr. Roger Lewis, an emergency-medicine researcher at the University of California-Los Angeles, said several body changes that take place during puberty, including muscle mass, bone density and bone-mineral content, may help explain why body size alone isn't a good measurement of risk from the air bags in children.

So I guess age does play a factor, and I will be aiming for 15yo - a year of front seat riding should be plenty for prepping for their licence, IMO.

 

[Jennee]

thanks!