IMHO, the law prohibiting children from riding in the front seat of cars is a consequence of a legal system that does not mandate the wearing of safety belts across the USA in the interests of "personal liberty" (a proven safety measure that has saved literally millions of lives worldwide).

At the same time, car manafacturers are sued by crash victims if their car does not protect them from their own stupidity in not wearing a belt.

As a consequence, US airbags deploy more agressively than those elsewhere in the world in order to save a large adult from impacting the dash or screen.

This leads to fatalities amongst small adults and children as a direct result of aggressive airbag deployment.

Therefore children are banned from the front seat.

Similar laws apply in the UK - nobody under 14 can sit in the front seat of a passenger car because EVEN with seatbelts and airbags it is statistically more dangerous than sitting in a rear seat.

Are we here to protect our children from stupid parents, or to support the liberty of dumb individuals to engage in risky actions.

Don't get me started on gun control...