A new IIHS study of frontal crashes in which belted rear-seat passengers were killed or seriously injured, suggests that more sophisticated restraint systems are needed in the back.
In the rear seat, side airbags protect passengers in a side crash, but there are no front airbags, and the seat belts generally lack crash tensioners and force limiters. During a frontal collision, forces can cause a back-seat passenger to collide with the vehicle interior. Seat belts can prevent that, but, as the new study shows, seat belts without force limiters can inflict chest injuries.
Read the article at IIHS.