This is the why I always choose the reverse seats if possible.
Of course if someone is sitting opposite to you then they’ll slam into you in case of an accident, but I still think the chances of survival are better when facing rearwards.
You're correct, on any vehicle involved in an accident you're more likely to survive with your back facing momentum.
This was scientifically proven through the work done by John Stapp[1], who attached himself to a rocket sled facing both directions and at one point became "the fastest man on earth" by breaking the land speed record at 632 mph and sustaining 46.2 g's.
His research is the reason why most military transport planes have seats facing backwards or sideways.
The takeaway should be "make sure you can't hit anything". Sitting with your back to the stop often helps you not go flying and hit anything when no proper tie downs are available but it's just a rule of thumb. If you have even just a lap belt your going to be better off facing forward in the event of a crash because of how the human neck works.
Find it strange that planes don't use them more often. I ended up flying BA business once and half their seats are backwards. It was quite novel, takeoff felt a bit weird but besides that no difference.
Went researching it after the flight and apparently reverse seats are far safer for injuries, especially neck and torso related.
Because motion sickness. I can absolutely never sit backwards even on a train, and plane take offs make me queezy as it is. I suspect there are people with much worse motion sickness issues
Military passenger planes often have the seats facing aft. Even when they're the same model with the same chairs as a commercial airliner, they just install them facing aft.
Of course if someone is sitting opposite to you then they’ll slam into you in case of an accident, but I still think the chances of survival are better when facing rearwards.