The Air
Bag That Saves Your
Life
Could Kill
Your Child
An
air bag deployed in this vehicle during the initial collision. The driver
was wearing a safety belt with shoulder harness also. Only minor injuries
occurred for the occupant.
Do you think it helped?
Pictured
here are dual airbags after deployment.
Air Bags and Children :
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) recommends placing all children 12 years old and
younger in the back seat. This is the safest place in the vehicle. Each
child should be properly restrained using a child safety seat or safety
belt, depending on his or her size. Never put an infant in the
front seat of a passenger side air bag equipped vehicle.
-
If a child must be placed in the front seat of
a vehicle equipped with air bags,
-
the seat needs to be pushed all the way back;
-
the child needs to sit with his or her back against the seat back;
and
-
the child should be buckled securely with minimal belt slack.
Air Bags and Short, Elderly or Pregnant Persons :
All drivers and passengers should do the following :
-
Always buckle up, with slack at a minimum;
-
Sit as far back as possible, tilting the seat slightly rearward;
-
Adjust the tilt steering wheel toward the chest; and
-
Hold the steering wheel from the sides.
Short, pregnant or elderly vehicle occupants who
follow these recommendations will maximize the life saving benefits of air
bags and safety belts.
FAQ About Air Bag Related
Injuries and Children
DANGER TO CHILDREN
Question:
Why are air bags dangerous to children age
12 and under?
Answer:
Air bags inflate at speeds up to 200 mph.
That blast of energy can severely hurt or kill passengers and drivers who
are too close to the air bag. An infant's head in a rear facing safety
seat is directly in front of the air bag as it breaks through the
dashboard and instantly inflates. Even some forward facing child safety
seats could possibly place the child within range of the air bag before it
is fully inflated. Also, if a child is unbelted, or to small for the lap
and shoulder belts to fit properly, or wriggling around or leaning
forward, there is a danger that the child will be to close to the
dashboard during that instant the air bag begins to inflate.
IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY BELTS
Question:
How can an air bag work so well for
adults, but hurt children in the front passenger seat?
Answer:
An average size adult who is correctly
belted is not likely to come in contact with the air bag until it is fully
inflated. A fully inflated air bag spreads the force of the crash across a
wide area of the body. Even an unbelted adult will probably come in
contact with the air bag at the chest area after the bag has at least
partially inflated. For greatest protection, both the driver and front
passengers should be correctly belted and the seats moved back as far as
practical to allow ample space for the air bag to expand.
Unbelted or improperly belted children can easily slide off the seat
during pre-crash braking, throwing them against the dashboard where the
air bag can strike them on the head or neck with tremendous force before
it is fully inflated.
The air bag only inflates in front end crashes and collapses immediately.
For protection in all types of collisions it is very important to always
use both the lap and shoulder belts.
BEING SMOTHERED BY AN AIR BAG
Question:
Is it true that a passenger can be
smothered by an air bag?
Answer:
No! The injuries that occur are
caused by the inflating bag hitting the head and neck of an out of
position passenger or the inflating bag hitting the back of an infant seat
behind a baby's head. The air bag loses its air right after it inflates,
so the stiff fabric does not remain over the passenger's face.
Information Provided From NHTSA
For More Air Bag Information see the NHTSA
Web Site.
