Legally, and unfortunately, children can be transported in FF (forward facing) after 9kg.
But this is by no means safe.
Parents often say that babies don't fit in the egg because their legs stick out. But... are legs really that important and do they need support?
The legs
There is no record of any accident in which there were serious injuries following an RF accident in the leg area.
What is the most comfortable way to sit at home?
With your legs raised?
Well, for children too 😉
It's very common to see children placed in rear seats with their legs... on the back of the front seat! And never hanging, because that's not comfortable!
How do you sit on the sofa? With your legs raised.
What about a lounge chair? Or even in bed? Wouldn't it be better with a pillow to elevate it?
And do the chairs or sofas support the legs up to the ankle?
It is much easier to break your legs when traveling in FF, since your legs are thrown against the hard surface of the front seat.
You can see it HERE : lots of toddler children (over 4 or 6 years old), in RF up to 18 or 25 kg.
The neck
A baby is not a miniature adult. Their entire bone structure is malleable and highly vulnerable. The weight of the head is "disproportionate" to the rest of the body. And this is where we must focus our concern.
The areas most exposed to damage in a baby are the head, neck and abdomen.
Since the main objective is to protect the head/neck, these are the parts that need the most protection, what happens to the legs is not talked about as often, but we all know that a leg fracture is treatable and a neck fracture can lead to death, so we can see the difference in the importance of the most talked about points.
At 50 km/h, in a FF collision, a child weighing approximately 15 kg, about 3 years old, has his head weighed by approximately 250 kg of force exerted during the collision. The survival limit is 122 kg.
In RF, the entire seat absorbs and disperses the weight of the impact across the entire back and head, with little of it reaching the baby. Only 30 kg of force is applied to the neck. Therefore, it remains within the survival limit.
SECURITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE,DRIVING REVERSE IS SAFER
Countries that are aware of this issue, such as Sweden and Norway, do not have child deaths on the roads because they do not use children in FF.
It is not safe, do not use it!
It's proven that traveling with children in reverse, as late as possible, saves lives. It saves your child's life.
And there are, unfortunately, parents who have lost their children in traffic accidents, and who are trying to warn the world so that they don't suffer like them.
Example of this: https://www.facebook.com/Gabrielelvikingo/
Gabriel became pentaplegic, the result of internal decapitation. He was riding a Pallas and died shortly thereafter.
If you Google it, there are countless cases of children who died or suffered serious injuries from going to FF too early.
According to ANSR, until September 2018, 1221 children, under the age of 14, were involved in road accidents.
23 were in serious condition and 3 lost their lives.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us!