From the Langis Site:
 

      This official statement from Volvo was authored in 1993. Accident stats maybe different than quoted,
      however, they are correct for the date written. Also, this was written before the 850 hit the market,
      however, Volvo has assured me that there has been no change in design philosophy regarding rear crash
      protection in the wagons with the advent of the 850 and 900 series. This was from the office of Mats Ola
      Palm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Volvo Cars of North America. Current President and CEO is
      Helge Alten.
 

      October 15, 1993
      Mr. Daniel S. Reid
      Dear Mr. Reid:

      Thank you for your letter of October 5, 1993 regarding the accident your family experienced in their
      Volvo. I was pleased to see that the Volvo performed as designed and your family was spared any
      serious injury. I also want to take a few minutes of your time to discuss the issue you raised regarding
      the optional rear facing third seat which may be installed in our wagons.

      The subject of automotive safety is a complex one with very few simple answers. Perhaps the best place
      to start is by realizing that there is a different relative level of injury exposure for every seating position in
      every automobile. This stems from a number of real world issues such as the frequency of the type of
      accident, the structure of the vehicle, the direction of impact, the distance from the point of impact, and
      the type of restraining device.

      According to our Safety Engineers, in most five passenger automobiles this makes the rear center seating
      position arguable the "safest" if it is equipped with a three-point seat belt. Statistics show that the
      majority of all impacts are frontal, making the rear seat position more desirable. The next most frequent
      type of accident is the side impact. Here, the center position in the rear seat is the farthest from the
      potential points of impact. Again, contributing to the safety of this position when a three-point belt is
      fitted and used.

      I believe it is important to understand the concepts I have stated to appreciate the risks and merits of our
      optional rear facing third seat. The optional seat has been designed with the same attention to safety as
      all of the other seating positions in a Volvo. It is solidly built and firmly bolted to the vehicle structure. It
      has built in head restraints and three-point self-adjusting seat belts. It is designed to carry 2 children up
      to 88 pounds each in weight.

      As I have stated, the most frequent type of accident is a frontal impact. In such an accident the third seat
      is the farthest from the point of impact and since the seating is rear facing, it allows the occupants to
      dissipate the crash energy across their entire back which produces even less body loading than a seat
      belt would produce. In the second most frequent type of accident, the side impact, the two occupants of
      the third seat sit between the rear wheel wells with the extra structure of the rear axle outside them and
      extra distance to either side of the car. U.S. government statistics show that frontal impacts account for
      over 50% of all accidents while side impacts total about 28%.

      I realize that your concern lies with rear impacts which account for only 10% of all accidents. The body of
      a Volvo station wagon is designed to manage crash energy in a different way than our sedans. It is more
      rigid and designed to help dissipate the crash energy forward to more of the structure of the vehicle. The
      impact in the rear is also lighter than frontal due to the fact that normally both vehicles move in the same
      direction, or one is standing still. In laboratory tests, instrumented dummies simulating occupants of the
      proper size, under 88 pounds, wearing their restraints experienced no significant indications of head,
      torso, or leg injuries with a rear impact flat barrier at 30 miles per hour. In fact, this seat complies with the
      performance requirements stipulated by government safety authorities in both the U.S. and Europe.

      Moving from the theoretical to the practical, our real world experience bears out the merits of this seat.
      Approximately one-third of all Volvo station wagons sold in the U.S. are ordered with this option and
      have been for almost 20 years. In virtually every report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
      and the Highway Loss Data Institute, Volvo station wagons are consistently rated among the safest
      vehicles on the roads. During all of this time Volvo Cars of North America has never been contacted
      regarding an injury or death for an occupant of the third seat in a crash.

      While the image in your mind of sitting in the rear facing seat and being struck by a vehicle is frightening,
      both laboratory and real world experience says there is no inherent safety problem in design of the rear
      facing third seat. Finally, why does Volvo offer the third seat? Because we have seen that the extra space
      available in a wagon is often used to carry people, in far too many cases, totally unrestrained. The safety
      implications of this are truly terrifying. Realizing this, we offered what we genuinely believe to be a far
      superior solution.

      I thank you for your letter and I hope I did not overwhelm you with this somewhat complex answer to
      your question. Again, I am glad to hear your family is fine. Please call me on the phone at xxx, xxxx, if you
      want to further elaborate on my comments, or if I can be of further assistance.

      Very truly yours,

      Mats Ola Palm