DOT HS 809 858, March 2005

2003 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey: Child Car Seat Report

CHAPTER 1: SEATING POSITION OF CHILDREN

Proportion of Trips That Child Age 12 or Younger Rides In Front Seat Of Vehicle

For safety reasons, NHTSA and other organizations maintain that children age 12 and younger should ride in the back seat of the motor vehicle while using the appropriate restraint for their size. Drivers in the survey who lived with children in this age range were asked about the seating position of the youngest child, using the front seat (the more dangerous position) as the reference point. Sixty-three percent said the child never rode in the front seat in the past 30 days when riding with them, and 12% claimed it occurred just a few times. Ten percent of children rode in the front seat nearly all of the time.

Figure 1
Proportion Of Trips That The Youngest Child Rode In The Front Seat In The Past 30 Days

figure 1 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 2
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By Sex Of Adult Respondent

figure 2 - click [d] for long description [d]

Qx: Think about all the times this child rode with you in the past thirty days, both with and without other passengers. About what proportion of those trips would you say that the child rode in the front seat?
Base: Drives a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, and lives with one or more children age 12 or younger.
Unweighted N's listed above.

African American/Black and Hispanic drivers who resided with children age 12 and younger comprised a relatively small number of cases in the sample. Thus readers are cautioned against over-interpreting the results. The data suggested that African American/Black children were slightly less likely than White children to ride (most of the time) in the front seat. The same was true for Hispanic children compared to non-Hispanic children².

Figure 3
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By
Race/Ethnicity Of Adult Respondent

figure 3 - click [d] for long description [d]

Children were least likely to sit in the front seat if the driver was a college graduate (71% said the child never rode in the front seat compared to 62% or less among groups with fewer years of formal schooling). There was little appreciable difference in child’s seating position between drivers with some college experience versus those who completed high school but did not enter college versus those who did not graduate high school.

Figure 4
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By
Education Of Adult Respondent

figure 4 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 5
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By Urbanicity
figure 5 - click [d] for long description [d]

The data suggested that public information campaigns warning about the danger of frontal passenger air bags to children sitting in the front seat have had an impact on the public. Among drivers whose primary vehicle had a frontal passenger air bag, 67% said that the child never sat in the front during the past 30 days. This was about 11 percentage points higher than among drivers who had no frontal passenger air bag in the primary vehicle (56%).

Figure 6
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By
Frontal Passenger Air Bag In Respondent’s Primary Vehicle

figure 6 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 7
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By Age Of Child

figure 7 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 8
Proportion Of Youngest Child’s Trips In Front Seat In Past 30 Days By Region Of Country

figure 8 - click [d] for long description [d]

Qx: Think about all the times this child rode with you in the past thirty days, both with and without other passengers. About what proportion of those trips would you say that the child rode in the front seat?
Base: Drives a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, and lives with one or more children age 12 or younger.
Unweighted N's listed above.
Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI
South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY

Change In Seating Position Of Child Age 12 or Younger From 12 Months Ago
Besides asking about the youngest child’s seating position during the most recent 30-day time period, the interviewers asked if the child’s usual seating position when riding with the respondent had changed from a year earlier. Slightly more than half (53%) of the children were now less likely than a year ago to ride in the front seat. Another 27% were said to be just as likely to ride in the front compared to a year earlier, while 14% were said to be more likely to ride in the front.

Figure 9
Is The Youngest Child More Likely, Less Likely,
Or Just As Likely To Ride In Front Seat Than 12 Months Ago?

figure 9 - click [d] for long description [d]

Fifty-seven percent of female drivers reported that the child was now less likely to ride in the front compared to 50% of male drivers.

Figure 10
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently
Child Rides In Front Seat By Sex Of Adult Driver

figure 10 - click [d] for long description [d]

As noted on page 4, the numbers of African American/Black and Hispanic drivers in the sample who resided with children age 12 and younger were relatively small. Thus readers once again are cautioned against over-interpreting the results. About two-thirds of African American/Black drivers (67%) reported that the youngest child was now less likely to ride in the front compared to less than half (47%) of White drivers. About two-thirds of Hispanic drivers (66%) reported that the youngest child was now less likely to ride in the front compared to about half (51%) of non-Hispanic drivers.

Figure 11
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides In
Front Seat By Race/Ethnicity Of Adult Driver

figure 11 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 12
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides In
Front Seat By Education Of Adult Driver

figure 12 - click [d] for long description [d]

Figure 13
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides In Front Seat By Urbanicity

figure 13 - click [d] for long description [d]

Respondents were more likely to report movement of the youngest child from the front to the back seat if they had a frontal passenger air bag in their primary vehicle. Fifty-five percent with frontal passenger air bags said the child was less likely now than 12 months ago to sit in the front compared to 49% who had no frontal passenger air bag in their primary vehicle.

Figure 14
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides In
Front Seat By Presence Of Frontal Passenger Air Bag

figure 14 - click [d] for long description [d]

Movement to the front seat increased as the age of the child increased. Only 4% of children ages 1 through 3 were more likely to sit in the front seat of the motor vehicle compared to 12 months earlier. This increased to 10% for ages 4 to 6, 18% for ages 7 to 9, and 32% for ages 10 to 12.

Figure 15
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides In Front Seat By Age Of Child

figure 15 - click [d] for long description [d]

Qx: Compared to 12 MONTHS ago, is this child more likely to ride in the front seat when you drive, as likely to ride in the front seat, or less likely to ride in the front seat?
Base: Drives a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, and lives with one or more children ages 1 to 12.
Unweighted N's listed above.

About three-fifths of drivers in the Northeast region (60%) and West region (57%) of the country reported a lesser likelihood of the child riding in the front seat compared to a year ago. Only about half of drivers in the Midwest (48%) and South (51%) reported a lesser likelihood of the child riding in the front seat compared to a year ago.

Figure 16
Change From 12 Months Ago In How Frequently Child Rides
In Front Seat By Region Of Country

figure 16 - click [d] for long description [d]

Qx: Compared to 12 MONTHS ago, is this child more likely to ride in the front seat when you drive, as likely to ride in the front seat, or less likely to ride in the front seat?
Base: Drives a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, and lives with one or more children ages 1 to 12.
Unweighted N's listed above.
Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI
South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY

If the child was more likely to ride in the front seat than a year earlier, the interviewers asked for the reason. Most often, it was attributed to the maturation of the child; i.e., the child was now older and larger (34%). The absence of any other place for the child to ride (18%) and the child’s preference to ride in the front seat (14%) ranked second and third, respectively.

Table 1
Reason Child Is More Likely To Ride In Front Than 12 Months Ago

Reason	Percent
Child is older/larger	34%
No other place for child in vehicle	18%
Child prefers the front	14%
Child and I are the only ones in vehicle	11%
Child likes to sit by me	8%
I want to be able to see/reach child	5%
Other	9%
Not sure/refused/no response	3%

Qx: Why is this child more likely to ride in the front seat when you drive?
Base: Said the designated child was more likely to ride in the front seat compared to 12 months ago.
Unweighted N=241
Total exceeds 100% due to multiple responses.

The sample sizes shown in Figure 17 reflect the finding on page 16 that older children were more likely to transfer to the front seat. But the major reasons given for this movement were in evidence for younger children as well.

Figure 17
Reason Child Is More Likely To Ride In Front By Child’s Age

[d]

Qx: Why is this child more likely to ride in the front seat when you drive?
Base: Said the designated child was more likely to ride in the front seat compared to 12 months ago.
Unweighted N's listed above.

Similarly, if the child was less likely to ride in the front seat than 12 months ago, the interviewer asked for the reason. Most often, the respondents replied that it was “safer in the back seat” (46%). They also specifically referred to danger from air bags (20%). Other reported reasons are shown in the Table below.

Table 2
Reason Child Is Less Likely To Ride In Front Than 12 Months Ago

Reason	Percent
Safer in back	46%
Danger from air bags	20%
Child’s car seat is in back	15%
It’s the law	8%
No other place for child in vehicle	5%
Child prefers back	5%
Child is too young/not old enough	4%
Other	4%
Not sure/refused/no response	3%

Qx: Why is this child less likely to ride in the front seat when you drive?
Base: Said the designated child was less likely to ride in the front seat compared to 12 months ago.
Unweighted N=934
Total exceeds 100% due to multiple responses.

Moving Children To Front Because Of Number Of Children

Drivers living with a child, and drivers not living with a child, were both asked about their recent experience in transporting multiple children. The goal was to explore the extent to which adults are forced to place children in the front because of the number of child passengers. About one-quarter (24%) of drivers had driven a motor vehicle in the past 30 days in which they had 3 or more child passengers at the same time, and 24% of these had put a child in the front seat during that time because there were too many children to fit in the back. In total, 6% of all drivers (24% of the 24%) had put a child in the front seat in the past 30 days due to the number of children.

Figure 18
Whether Had To Place Child Up Front Because Of Number Of Children

figure 18 - click [d] for long description [d]

Qx: In the past 30 days, have you driven a motor vehicle in which you had three or more child passengers at the same time?
Qx: Were there any days out of the past 30 where you had to put a child in the front seat because there were too many children to fit in the back?
Base: Drivers whose primary vehicle is not a motorcycle.
Unweighted N's listed above.

²The Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey collects data from all races. However, because of their small numbers in the survey sample and the resulting reduction in the precision of associated sample estimates, this report does not include breakouts of the data for American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Asians, and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.

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