Regulations that prohibit childen under 12 from riding in the front seat has drastically cut the death rate of children killed in front seats, according to the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council. They are one of the leading groups that plunked the kids in the back seats. I am sure they are happy with their recently announced results.
There is a wee bit of a problem with the statistics. Of course the rate drops ... because there are not so many kids in front seats. If we ban kids from amusement parks, I guarantee you that there will be a huge reduction of kids puking on roller coasters.
Under the reasoning of the National Safety Council, you may be horrified to know that car airbags injure and kill more people today then they did twenty years ago.
A look at the other side of the children seating statistics is revealing. Now that we harness the kids in the back seat, the number of children's deaths in rear seats has ... increased.
Before any of you get the wrong idea, I think air bags are a great safety feature and I am totally in support of kids in the back seat. Even when you compare the statistics, there is a net reduction in death and injury. So keep the kids lashed in the back ... maybe even install taxi-like barriers between the front and back. That would make driving a bit more serene, and I assume a calm driver is a safe driver -- but I don't have statistics to prove it.
Our friends at the National Safety Council should give out the whole story, or we might start to think of their program as the Hot Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign.
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