Judging safety by simple observation is not a very reliable method as there are a lot of factors - including the fact that you are less likely to worry about seating positions that you commonly use, even if they are just as close or closer to the edges of the car.
Look at IIHS injury numbers for various positions in a vehicle. Rear-collisions typically have very low speed differentials. Tesla paid a lot of attention to safety and trunk intrusion is very unlikely. If you put your kids in the front or back seat (as opposed to the jumpseats) of any car, unless it's in the middle they are very close to the door. Side impacts typically have higher impact speeds, and so there are more serious injuries there (even after adjusting for how often somebody sits there).
Obviously it will vary by car and I haven't looked at the numbers for a while (my kids have been taller than me for years) but generally speaking, the jumpseats are safer than the front passenger seat or the two sides in the rear. (The middle seat of the rear is probably the safest overall, though).
