As far as I remember, adults getting sick from rides is something to do with stiffening of the inner ear, but if that happens with age, why are kids more prone to motionsickness in cars?
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Car sickness is effectively countered by looking outside of the car, which adults usually know to do, while kids don’t or can’t.
Some of it has to do with where you’re riding too. As a kid, you’re most often in the backseat of a vehicle, and quite likely not paying attention to the outside world. Instead you’re likely trying read/watch a tablet/play a game etc….all of that makes you try to focus in on an object that’s in the vehicle moving. But the problem is that your “upper brain” doesn’t register the movements, even though your eyes do, it kind of filters it out automatically. However, this conflicts with what the inner ear is feeling, which can end up leading to nausea (we don’t know why nausea is the response).
This is why looking out the window helps. Your eyes register “I am moving” so when your inner ear reports the same, no nausea. Also why riding in the front seat, and especially being the driver, helps combat motion sickness. But little kids don’t get to ride in the front seat for safety reasons, generally.
As for rides, you’re kind of right about why adults get sick. It’s not so much the stiffness of the ear drum (that’s more of an issue with hearing loss), but it does have to do with aging. As an adult, you’re more prone to having some type of issue that will affect your inner ear and through off your equilibrium. Some causes can be: meniere’s disease (inner ear dysfunction), dehydration (many causes; medication, stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of fitness, alcohol consumption etc), migraines, etc. Basically it’s a delicate system and there’s a lot that can go wrong. And you’re more likely to have something wrong the older you are.
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