Volvo has found that in a crash at 30 miles an hour, an unbelted child in the back can kill or seriously injure an adult in the front seat as the child flies forward. Children are 10 to 20 percent less likely to die in a crash if they sit in the center rear seat than if they sit in the back next to the doors. The advent of center rear seats with shoulder belts makes these seats even safer. Children weighing less than 80 pounds but too big for a child seat should use a booster seat with a shoulder belt. Parents with two children regularly face the question of which rear seats the children should use.
Some research suggests that the rear seats next to the doors are equally safe.
But Leonard Evans, the president of the International Traffic Medicine Association, says that it is safest for one child to be placed in the center rear seat and the other in the rear seat behind the front passenger. Federal statistics show that vehicles are struck about 15 percent more often on the driver's side than the front passenger's side. And when children raise a distracting ruckus in the back seat, it is simpler for the driver to restore order if neither child is directly behind the driver. Those of widest interest will be selected, but unpublished questions cannot be answered individually. Privacy Information Stay connected to the news that interests you with free e-mail alerts from The New York Times.