Where is the safest place in your car for your (baby) car seat?

You've chosen a safe car seat for your little one and are now ready to enjoy a family journey together! Before you set off, it's important to know where you should place your car seat in the safest way. Should you put a baby car seat behind the driver or passenger seat? Or wat is the safest place for a car seat?

We at Maxi-Cosi recommend that you place your car seat in the back seat – preferably in the middle spot. However, you might need to consider other options when, for instance, you have multiple car seats to install or your vehicle is not suitable for centre installation. 

We're here to help you to decide the best position for your car seat: 

1) Car Seat in Rear Middle: The Safest Spot! 

The safest place for your car seat is the rear middle seat due to its maximum distance from passenger-side air bags and any potential impact.

Although statistically this is the safest location, we know it might not always be very practical or even possible because of the size of the seat or the lack of a seat belt or ISOFIX points of your vehicle. 

2) Car Seat in Rear Passenger 

Although not considered as the safest car seat position in accordance with statistics, consumers often prefer this location. 

Away from the most common side of impact, the rear passenger seat offers the advantage of giving you easy access to your child, with the restraint often being pavement side of the vehicle, away from the flow of traffic. 

3) Car Seat in Rear Driver 

It's still a safe location for the car seat to be as it is in the rear of the vehicle. However, it is less safe than the rear passenger because it's a more common side of impact. 

4) Car Seat in Front Passenger 

We recommend you to stick to the rear seat, but if you do have to put your baby in the front passenger seat, always make sure that the front airbags are deactivated before you set off. A child under the age of 12 should never be positioned in a seat with a passenger airbag. 

Being in the front should be used as a last resort, due to the higher risk of distraction to the driver as well as being in proximity to the most common side of impact. 

If there were three children (a newborn, a toddler and a 4-year-old) in a family and it wasn’t possible to fit three seats along the back, we recommend to place: 

• the newborn in the rear passenger position 

• the toddler in the rear driver position 

• the 4-year-old in the front passenger seat position (with deactivated airbags and the front seat in the rearmost position) all in their appropriate restraints. 

In any case, always make sure the car seat is fitted correctly and enjoy happy trips with your little one!