How and where you sit in a vehicle can have a massive impact on your safety if you are involved in a road-accident.
“Many cars nowadays are made with such advanced safety features, but how we sit in a car is often our biggest safety precaution,” says Barend Smit, marketing director of MotorHappy.
Smit points out a few risky ways to sit in a vehicle:
Feet on dashboard
If you are sitting in the front passenger seat with your feet on the dashboard, it changes the way the seat belt rests on your body. If you are involved in an accident, your upper body could flip over the belt, causing injury to your abdomen and back.
If the front airbags are deployed, your knees would be pushed into your face. Airbags usually inflate at about 320 km/h, causing considerable damage to especially your feet, legs, and head when you sit in this position.
Passenger seat reclined
When you recline the passenger seat, the seat belt no longer fits the way it is meant to. Instead of fitting over the chest and lap, it moves to your neck and abdomen, and in an accident, this could damage your neck and internal organs.
Wearing the seat belt under your arm
The seat belt is designed to fit your body in a certain way. When it is over your shoulder, it crosses over your collarbone, which is strong. When you wear the seat belt under your arm, it crosses your ribs, which are weaker than your collarbone. Additionally, when the seat belt is under your arm and you are involved in an accident, it is unable to stop your torso from propelling forward and colliding with the airbag that is deploying at 320 km/h.
Third row seats
Third row seats are not usually as stable as middle and front row seats. They are usually placed quite close to the rear of the vehicle, which means passengers in the third row are more likely to be injured in a rear-end collision.
Riding with a child or dog on your lap
Riding as a passenger in the front seat with your child or dog on your lap is dangerous, again, because of the speed at which the airbag inflates. Positioned between you and your airbag, your child or pet would be seriously injured (if not killed) and the force at which they slam into your abdomen could cause you serious internal injuries too.
“The safest spot for adult passengers is usually the least comfortable spot: The middle of the back seat is the safest place in a car. (If your vehicle have three rows, it would be the middle seat in the middle row.)
Adults in this seat are usually the furthest from the point of impact and are insulated by the other passengers.
However, this spot is only the safest spot if the car is equipped with a secure seat belt for this seat.”
