Airbags

Airbags are supplemental restraints and will be most effective only when used with seat restraints. You can reduce the risk of potential airbag hazards by simply following a few safety precautions and seatbelt restraint rules.

Airbags: A Safety Barrier, Not a Billowy Pillow
The purpose of the airbag is to save lives by creating a barrier between the passenger and the dash; it is not a soft, billowy pillow. An effective airbag deploys very rapidly -- faster than the blink of an eye. The force required to inflate an airbag at this speed can injure an occupant who is too close to the bag as it begins to inflate. For example, hitting your car brakes just before an accident may cause an unbelted or improperly restrained passenger to be thrown toward the dashboard, putting them too close to the airbag housing.

Inflating air bags have caused a small number of deaths or serious injuries to children, smaller-stature adults, and pregnant women. As of July 1996, twenty-two infants and children and nineteen adults, mostly elderly and/or short women, have been killed in the United States by inflating airbags. Most were not using any seatbelt restraints or were improperly seated in rear-facing restraints in the vehicle's front seat. Injuries due to airbag deployment have included head and neck injuries and arm fractures.

Take These Precautions
By educating ourselves and others that airbags save lives and work best when everyone is buckled and kids are in the back seat we can reduce airbag hazards. This information highlights examples of safety precautions you can take to help protect yourself, your family, and your property. This list is not meant to be all encompassing. Moreover, a particular precaution may not be effective in all circumstances. Follow these simple seatbelt safety rules to reduce the risk of injury by a deploying airbag:

• Kids ride in back. In vehicles with passenger-side airbags, NEVER place an infant secured in a rear-facing infant safety seat in the front seat. The infant carrier should be seatbelted in the back seat. Children who are five feet or shorter, should also ride buckled in the back seat, never in front.

• Child safety seats Young children and infants should always ride in age and size appropriate child safety seats. The safety seat should be held properly in place by the vehicle's safety belts and the child should be correctly buckled in the child safety seat.

• Adults should wear both lap AND shoulder belts. The shoulder strap should cross the collarbone, and the lap belt should fit low and tight on the hips. The shoulder strap should never be slipped behind the back or under the arm--this is a dangerous habit, especially in cars with air bags.

• Take additional airbag safety measures for smaller-stature adults and pregnant women, including moving the front seat back as far away from the dashboard as is practical to operate the vehicle.

When in doubt, remember this easy safety rule:

All rights reserved. This article includes copyrighted material of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with their permission.

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