The research I have done into car seats demonstrates that rear-facing car seats are four times safer in a frontal collision so it's not a small increase in safety should you have an accident. Rear shunt stats are similar. Significantly cuts the risk of neck, internal injury and internal decapitation. Have a look at www.rearfacing.co.uk/.

Our daughter knows no different so is quite happy travelling in this direction. We'll be sticking to them for now and have had no problems with sickness (thus far). There's a good view out of the rear window. Obviously the downside is the fact that they take up a lot of space.