Change in seating position of children in towaway crashes from 1989 to 2019

•Safety campaigns were successful in placing young children in rear seats in the US.•NASS-CDS and CISS analysis shows steady decrease in 0–7 yo children using the right-front seat.•Children 8–12 yo are still using the RF seat, but at a lower rate. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the nationwide response to passenger airbag (PA) related deaths of children. The response was implemented in 1996 and focused on moving children to rear seats. This study determined the change in seating position of children from 1989 to 2019. Field accident data on exposed occupants in towaway crashes was determined using 1989–2015 NASS-CDS in five groups (1989–1995, 1996–99, 2000–04, 2005–09 and 2010–15) and 2017–19 CISS in one group. Children were grouped as 0–2 yo (years old), 3–7 yo and 8–12 yo. Occupants 13 + were included for completeness. Seat position was defined as left-front (LF), right-front (RF), 2nd row and 3rd row. The weighted data provided an estimate for the change in seating position over time by occupant age with standard errors. For 0–2 yo, 27.9% were in the RF seat in 1989–95. The fraction decreased to 0.40% in the 2017–19 (p