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.
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.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stapp