The expression “riding shotgun” (sitting in the front seat next to the driver) is derived from the days of stagecoach travel. The passenger in those days was usually armed with a shotgun or rifle and would sit beside the driver to provide an armed response in case of threat to the cargo. After reading this newest study passengers might want to consider “riding shotgun” themselves.
A new study finds that passengers are not safer in the back seat of a vehicle during a car crash. In vehicles made after 2006, people sitting in the rear seat — even when they wear a seatbelt — have a 46 percent greater chance of dying in a crash than someone riding in the front passenger seat. The reason is that rear seats haven’t kept up with advancements in accident safety like front seats, according to a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Experts emphasize that rear seats haven’t become less safe, it’s just that front seats have become safer. However, experts still say children are safer in the back seat, especially for children under the age of nine.
As Virginia car accident injury attorneys we know that passengers involved in car accidents can recover from the at-fault driver. Depending on the specific circumstances of the case that may be the driver of the vehicle they were riding with or the driver of another vehicle. Some injured parties do not understand that even when they are passengers they have the right to sue, the driver of the vehicle and/or the driver of another vehicle for their injuries. At times friends are reluctant to sue each other however personal injury liability is a matter of law, not friendship.
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