Technical Paper
Analysis of Occupants by Seating Location, Restraint Use and Injury Risk in Tow-Away Crashes
2024-04-09
2024-01-2752
NHTSA was petitioned to add warnings to place children behind the lightest front-seat passenger or behind an unoccupied front seat for rear crash protection. This study was conducted to help identify the safest seating position. The 1989-2015 NASS-CDS and 2017-2019 CISS data were analyzed for light vehicles in all, frontal and rear tow-away crashes. The differences in serious injury risk (MAIS 3+F) were determined for front and rear seating positions, including the right, middle and left second-row seats. Occupancy and restraint use were determined. Overall, the injury risk was 2.65% ± 0.20% for drivers, 2.57% ± 0.19% for right-front passengers (RFP) and 1.73% ± 0.17% for second-row passengers in all crashes. The risk was significantly higher for right-front passengers than for second-row occupants (p<0.001).