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Air Bags and Children |
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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 you have no choice but to put a child in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with air bags:
This will reduce the forward movement in a crash and maximize air bag
effectiveness. Air Bags and Short, Elderly or Pregnant Persons ALL drivers and passengers should do the following:
Short, pregnant or elderly vehicle occupants who follow these
recommendations will maximize the life saving benefits of air bags and
safety belts |
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Why are air bags dangerous to children age 12 and under? 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 too
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 too close to
the dashboard during that instant that the air bag begins to inflate. How can an air bag work so well for adults, but hurt children in the front passenger seat? 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 air 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 of the seat
during pre-crash braking, throwing them against the dashboard where the
air bag cans 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. Is it true that a passenger can be smothered by an air bag? 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. |
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