Front versus rear seat placement of children aged 12 or younger within vehicles: a rural/urban comparison in North Dakota.

OBJECTIVE Research has shown that rear-seated children are 36 to 40 percent safer than front-seated children. Because of the substantial differences in traffic safety culture that appear to exist in rural areas and the limited research regarding seat placement and rurality, this study seeks to contribute to the safety literature by determining at what rate children are riding in the front seat and whether differences exist between rural and urban areas in regards to child front seat placement. METHODS Current child placement frequencies within vehicles were ascertained through direct observations of morning child drop-offs at randomly selected urban and rural elementary schools in eastern North Dakota during November and December of 2009, with a focus on children aged 12 or younger. Two observers wearing orange safety vests and carrying observation sheets were stationed at each elementary school a minimum of 45 min prior to each school's designated start time. Based on the vehicles that entered the school's parking lot/drop-off circle and from which a minimum of one child exited, observers were instructed to record vehicle type, presence of children in the front seat appearing to be younger than 13 years old, availability of room in the back seat, and placement of other children in the vehicle. RESULTS During November and December of 2009 a total of 537 vehicles were observed at urban schools and 150 vehicles were observed at rural schools. Of the 537 vehicles observed at urban schools, 28.7 percent had children seated in the front seat, whereas 41.3 percent of the 150 vehicles observed at rural schools had front-seated children. Significant urban/rural differences exist in child seat placement, with vehicles in rural areas much more likely to be carrying front-seated children than vehicles in urban areas. CONCLUSIONS Based on a sample of vehicles observed at urban and rural elementary schools in North Dakota, the results of this study indicate that there are significant rural/urban differences in child seat placement.