During the last 20 to 30 years, much has changed and improved with regard to motor vehicle safety and today the rates of injuries and deaths associated with motor vehicle accidents have significantly decreased. These reductions are due in part to increased use of and improvements to both exterior and in-vehicle safety features.

Airbags, antilock brakes and accident avoidance systems have all helped improve motor vehicle safety and reduce the number of car accidents. In addition to these safety features, seat belts are undoubtedly one of the most effective of all in-vehicle safety features.

While there’s no doubt that seat belts have and continue to prevent millions of injuries and deaths each year, a recent study revealed that most auto makers have focused almost exclusively on improving seat belt safety for drivers and front-seat passengers while largely ignoring those passengers riding in the back seat.

The study, which was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, looked at how safety features vary and measure up depending on whether an individual sits in the front or back seat of a vehicle. While many people likely believe that it’s safer to ride in the back seat of a car, researchers found that back seat passengers are actually 46 percent more likely to be killed in a crash than those who sit up front.

For the study, researchers accounted for variables such as age differences as children under the age of 13 are still advised to ride in the back seat. When attempting to account for the safety disparities, researchers honed in on seat belts. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 87 percent of front seat occupants use seat belts. This figure, however, drops by nearly 10 points to 78 percent for back seat passengers, age eight and older.

In addition to adding seat belt reminder chimes or finding other ways to promote the use of the vital safety devices by back seat passengers, researchers also noted a lack of innovation in rear seat belts. While car makers have added enhanced safety features, like pretentioners and load limiters, to seat belts in the fronts of vehicles; these injury-reducing features are lacking from the vast majority of rear seat belts.

Source: Yahoo Autos, “Is riding shotgun safer than sitting in the back?,” Mark Rechtin, June 22, 2015