Airbags

Air bags are extremely dangerous for young children and infants who ride in rear-facing child seats. Because the back of a rear-facing child seat sits very close to the dashboard, all of the forces from the air bag are transferred directly to the child’s head, which can cause serious injury or death. Even older children (who have outgrown child seats) are at risk from a deploying air bag, if they are not properly restrained with a lap/shoulder belt.
 
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified 101 crashes where the deployment of the passenger air bag resulted in fatal head or neck injuries to a child. In addition, three children have been killed by driver side air bags. Nineteen of these deaths were to infants in rear-facing child safety seats. Most of the other 84 children were determined to be completely unbuckled, "out of position," or wearing only the lap portion of the safety belt (improperly restrained) at the time of the crash.

What Should I Do?
Babies should ride in a rear-facing child safety seat until they are at least one year old and at least 20 pounds. An infant in a rear-facing child seat must ride in the back seat if your vehicle has a passenger side air bag, unless your vehicle has a shut-off switch and the air bag has been turned off.

Children ages 12 and under should always be properly restrained in a child safety seat or safety belt and ride in the back seat. Even if there isn't a passenger air bag in the motor vehicle, the safest place for infants and children is properly secured and buckled up in the back seat.

If it is absolutely necessary to place a forward-facing safety seat in the front of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag, make sure the child is properly secured in the safety harness and the seat is tightly installed in the vehicle seat. The vehicle seat should be adjusted as far back as possible from the dashboard.

Make sure that everyone in the front seat is properly buckled up and seated as far back from the air bags as reasonably possible. Make sure that all young children are properly secured in a child safety seat and older children by a lap/shoulder belt.

Know how to properly install your child seat in the vehicle. Read both the owner’s manual for the vehicle and the instructions for your child safety seat.

Never allow anyone to sit closely to or ride with their feet on the dashboard area.

< Back