At What Age Can Children Sit in the Front Seat of a Car?
3 Answers
China has explicitly stipulated that minors under the age of 12 are not allowed to sit in the front passenger seat. Although the front passenger seat offers a wide field of vision and relatively less vibration, it poses extremely high risks. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for children under 14 in China. Specific regulations: Even parents holding children are not permitted to sit in the front passenger seat, and child safety seats cannot be installed there. If passengers in the front seat fail to fasten their seat belts while driving on highways or urban expressways, they will be fined and required to correct the behavior upon being caught by electronic surveillance or on-site inspection. Correct practices for children in cars: For children, the rear seats of a car are safer than the front seats. The middle seat in the rear is the optimal position for installing a child safety seat. For older children (typically no younger than 7-8 years) who need to use a three-point seat belt, it is advisable to use a booster seat.
I have specialized in child passenger safety, and there are actually clear regulations regarding the age for riding in the front seat. In our country, children under 12 years old or shorter than 1.5 meters are not allowed to sit in the front passenger seat. This is because the airbag deploys at an instantaneous speed of up to 300 km/h, and children's underdeveloped bones can easily be severely injured by the impact. My own child once secretly sat in the front seat at the age of 10, and during a sudden brake, their head hit the glove compartment, resulting in a bump. I recommend that parents have their children sit in the back seat, use a child safety seat until the age of 12, and only allow them to sit in the front when they weigh over 36 kilograms and can reach the floor with their feet. This ensures the seat belt is properly secured at the hip position rather than pressing against the abdomen.
As a father of three, my personal experience tells me that letting children sit in the front seat is extremely dangerous. Once when I was driving my eldest son to soccer practice, he was 11 years old and sitting in the front passenger seat. An electric scooter suddenly darted out at an intersection, causing me to brake hard. Even though he was wearing a seatbelt, his neck was left red and sore from the restraint. The doctor later explained that a child's cervical spine is like a tender branch that can't withstand sudden pulling forces. Now, our family rule is that no one sits in the front seat until they're 14 years old, and car seats must be used until age 8. Many parents think it's fine as long as the child can use a seatbelt, but the real danger lies in the fact that the force of an airbag deployment is equivalent to being hit in the chest with a baseball bat for children under 1.4 meters tall. Actually, the middle seat in the back row is the safest position.
