Least number of fatalities, even without a seat belt.

University at Buffalo researchers studied all auto crashes involving a fatality in the U.S. between 2000 and 2003 where someone occupied the rear middle-seat. After controlling for factors such as restraint use, vehicle type and weight, occupant age, weather and light conditions, air-bag deployment, drug results and fatalities per crash, the rear middle seat is still 16 percent safer than any other seat in the vehicle.

The study involved two different sets of fatal crash data. Researchers first analyzed a special class of car crashes in which there were occupants in the front seat and in the middle of the back seat, a total of 27,098 occupants. The second data set compared survival rates of back-seat occupants only in crashes in which there was at least one fatality. The middle-seat group contained 5,707 occupants, while the 'outboard' or window-seat group had 27,611 occupants, giving a total of 33,318 back-seat passengers. Looking at the fatalities statistics, it is clear that the middle seat is the safest.

Next, they looked at seat belt usage. 46.9% of the fatalities were not wearing seat belts and of these unrestrained passengers, 34.6% were fatally injured, compared to only 14.9% of seat-belt wearers. In general, back-seat passengers who wore seat belts were 2.4 to 3.2 times more likely to survive a crash than their unbelted back-seat companions.

There you have it: the crummiest seat in the car is the safest. And don't forget that seat belt!

Technorati Tags: cars, crashes, safety, accidents, fatalities, science, technology