Children at Risk in Rear Truck Seats
March 7, 2002

Children in rear seats of compact pickups with extended cabs are more likely to be hurt in crashes than children in other vehicles, according to a Detroit News story, which cites a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The report concludes that children in the back of such trucks are nearly five times as likely to be hurt in crashes than children in other vehicles, the story said.
The study's finding doesn't apply to compact trucks that have side-facing fold-down or "jump seats" behind the front bench, however.

"We encourage families who own them to avoid transporting children in them and to find other forms of transportation," said Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, lead author of the report.
The study analyzed 7,200 crashes that involved more than 11,000 children in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states.