SUV Safety

Third row seats in SUVs pose dangers for kids

Are your kids safe in the third row of popular SUVs? Flimsy seats, plus the nearness of the glass, pose a threat to youngsters, say safety experts.

"The third row is pretty vulnerable to rear-enders---like about twice as dangerous" as other rows, says safety consultant Mike Brownlee, formerly in charge of defect investigations and rules for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As more third-row seats hit the market, injuries and deaths will increase, he predicts. (Quoted in USA Today, March 1, 2001)

During 2000, 2.3 million rear-end collisions were reported to federal authorities. Rear-enders comprise about 22% of all reported crashes. Of those, 2980 involved fatalities---6.2% of all fatal collisions, up from earlier years.

Third row seats used to be reserved for larger minivans and SUVs. But increasingly, they are being crammed into smaller models. In order to sell minivans to large families and couples who car-pool and ferry the soccer team, auto makers have squeezed more seats into models where the last row leaves the heads of taller children only inches from the glass.

In some cases, children riding in third row seats have suffered tragic head injuries in otherwise survivable, non-injury crashes.

According to USA Today, GM's Buick Rendevous, a crossover SUV built on a minivan platform, has only 8 inches between the third-row seat back and the tailgate glass. Honda's Acura MDX has about a foot. Ford's Explorer has 13 inches.

NHTSA is considering tightening the safety requirements for protection in rear-end crashes. Meanwhile, experts say effective head restraints are key, but many SUVs lack head restraints in the last row. Experts also point out that kids who are taller face a higher risk when they ride in the third row, because their heads can whip backwards in a rear-ender, and shatter the glass.