The Excellence Child Safety Seat Concept. Source: Supplied

The Excellent Child Seat Concept gives parents access to an ergonomic swivelling chair and allows the child to be locked rear facing for travel.

Volvo wanted to make travel easier for parents without compromising the safety of the child. They have done this by allowing the chair to be rear facing but in the front passenger position.

Released in Shanghai on July 2, the concept has not hit current marketed vehicles but can be seen in action in this YouTube video.

If the past is anything to go by, Volvo may have just introduced the next item in a long history of revolutionary safety features in motor vehicles. The company was the first to release the three-point safety belt in 1959, the first rear facing child seat in 1972 and side impact protection in 1991.

This latest concept was focused on three benefits. “Making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective; providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger; and, of course, including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as nappies, bottles, wipes, and so on,” said Tisha Johnson, one of Volvo’s chief interior designers.

As pictures show, the car seat concept completely changes the interior of the vehicle, giving easier access to the child seat from any direction, which has been a struggle lamented by parents since rear-facing seats become compulsory.

The seat swivels for easy access. Source: Supplied

Whether this concept will make it to our shores is still to be seen. The design would mean a review into Australian car seat laws, which make it illegal for children to sit in the front of the vehicle and makes them obligated to sit in a child seat until the age of seven.

But the Swedish-based company is familiar with strict car seat regulations, with Sweden famous for its laws surrounding extended rear-facing seats.

The front seat car concept has had mixed reviews.

Some parents are saying it would be a distraction having a baby so close with many claiming that parents would try to feed or entertain the baby when they are meant to be driving and concentrating on the road. Others are strongly supporting current Australian laws, stating this design would not comply.

Mother-of-two Sam Oliver uses car seats, thinks this design may be dangerous.

“It would be very distracting for the driver, especially if no one else was in the vehicle. I personally think children belong in the back seat of the car until the suitable age requirement,” she said

On the other hand, mother-of-two Megan Blandford loves the idea.

“My babies hated their time in rear-facing seats and, although it’s the safest way for them to travel in the car, I felt their screaming was really unsafe for the driver. If this became a real option, that is affordable and passed by safety assessors, then it’s definitely something we would have looked at,” she said.

If the concept is rolled out commercially this could mean the biggest change to motor vehicle travel with children we have seen in recent years.

It would also mean no more fights over shotgun for older siblings, because, like always, this will see the youngest win without contest.