NHTSA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO IMPROVE AIR BAG TECHNOLOGY

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a comprehensive plan to mitigate the risks that air bags pose to children and adults. Included in their plan is accelerating the development of the "smart air bag". More immediate measures include adoption of enhanced warning labels, depowering of air bags and continuing to allow the use of cut-off switches in vehicles without a rear seat to protect children.

NHTSA has also announced proposed rulemaking to allow dealers to deactivate the air bags upon request. Although NHTSA states that this new policy would benefit families who need to have children in the front seat for monitoring purposes, car pools or short-statured adults, the Council warns that deactivation is a very serious step that should be carefully considered. This semi-permanent action would mean that everyone who drives the vehicle would be the life-saving benefits of air bags. The air bag that may be a threat to a child riding in the front seat is the same air bag that could save the child's parents in a serious crash.

We applaud any efforts to make air bags safer, however, improved technology is only part of the solution.  The most important actions will always be those taken by the individual to assure that all passengers are correctly buckled up, seats are pushed back and kids are buckled up in the back seat.

KIDS AND AIR BAGS DON'T MIX

Air bags do their job best when everyone is buckled and kids are properly restrained in the back seat.

Air bags can save your life - almost 1,500 people survived serious crashes since 1987 thanks to air bags.  However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that tragically at least 30 children and nineteen adults have been killed by the force of a deploying air bag. In many cases, the children were riding in the front seat either in a rear- facing child safety seat or "out of position" either unbuckled or not wearing the shoulder portion of the safety belt.

An air bag is not a soft, billowy pillow. Rather, to work effectively, an air bag comes out of the dashboard at rates of up to 200 miles per hour - faster than a blink of an eye.  Drivers can entirely eliminate any danger to children from a deploying air bag by placing kids properly restrained in the back seat. With or without an air bag, the back seat is the safest place for children to ride.

AIR BAG SAFETY TIPS

Kids ride in back Infants in rear-facing child safety seats should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag. Children, typically five feet or shorter, should also ride buckled up in the back seat.

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 he correctly buckled in the child safety seat. A child who has outgrown a convertible child safety seat will need to ride in a booster seat in order for the vehicle's safety belts to fit properly.

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.

Move the front seat back Drivers should position the seat as far away from the dashboard as is practical to operate the vehicle. Drivers should also make sure that the front passenger seat is pushed back as far as possible.

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