[caseinpoint]

Thanks for the stats. Of course the real issue is whether lives are saved with having them in the back seat compared to being forgotten but there is a good idea of having the baby bag in the front seat so no one forgets the kids is way back yonder. Personally I think it is best to designate one parent to be primary caretaker, usually the mother. I love men to death but they are not multi-track naturally. When couples kind of wing it, I can see how one can perhaps forget whose day it was to drop off the kid. My kids are grown now, safely. The van we had for awhile was a VW, which tends to be more open and visible throughout. Nowadays vans are caverns of darkness and cushions and headrests.

[amchugh]

Approximately 500 child occupants died each year during the study period...The proportion of fatally injured children seated in the back seat of a vehicle involved in a crash was 50.1%...Riding in the back seat is associated with at least a 30% reduction in the risk for fatal injury...

So, according to that my guess is that 75 children per year can be saved by shifting them to the back seat of cars vs. an additional hyperthermia instance of 25 per year, giving us 50 kids saved per year. I am not a statistician though.