If you asked someone in previous decades where the safest seat in the car was, they would probably have pointed you to the back seat. Passengers could certainly still be injured or even pass away in car accidents, but the back seat used to offer greater safety, in large part because passengers were farther away from the impact point in a head-on collision.
In recent years, however, this trend has changed. It no longer appears that the back seat is the safest, and some drivers may be safer in the front. Does this mean that the back seat is getting more dangerous? What exactly is happening with modern car designs?
Increased safety in the front
The back seat of a vehicle is still as safe today as it was in the ’80s, if not much safer. It’s not that things have gotten worse or that passengers are in greater danger.
Instead, the difference is that safety has increased in the front. All of these safety innovations have not necessarily made their way to back-seat passengers.
For example, someone in the front seat of a vehicle may have more-advanced seat belts or a greater number of airbags. Crumple zones may be designed to dissipate energy and move it away from those in the front of the passenger compartment.
In some ways, these changes have been helpful, because there are many people who drive alone the majority of the time. For instance, someone who commutes to the office and back every day for work probably doesn’t have a passenger on most of those trips, so it makes sense to focus on safety on the seats that are occupied.
However, this also leaves the door open for serious injuries, both to drivers and passengers. Those who have been hurt due to someone else’s negligence must know how to seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages and more.