Safest way to travel with 6 in a pickup?

mtofell1 wrote:
I may be missing something.... and with the number of people saying the same thing I must be so please someone explain to me why putting mom in the middle and a kid in the passenger seat is recommended over kid in the middle? It would seem to me the safer place for a small/med child is in the middle, away from a side impact. And, possibly out of the "line of fire" of the airbag as someone points out.

To the OP: I'm potentially in the same quandary. I have myself and wife, 14 year old, 5 year old and twin 4 year olds. I don't know where I'd put everyone if/when we all pile in the new 6-seat truck. I was somewhat dismayed when I got the truck that it didn't have a shoulder belt for the middle/front seat.

Obviously, there's no perfect solution or it would have been found prior to the 3 pages of opinions here. I'd probably check with the local fire department as they often have child safety seat clinics or people "in the know". You might also just keep poking around the internet for someone who knows as opposed to this group of guessers.