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| |    Airbag Safety Tips by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Kathryn Clark, M.D., F.A.A.P. It's rare to find a parent these days who doesn't know that the back seat is the safest place to put an infant car seat. However, not all moms and dads understand why this is important, nor do they necessarily know how to best ensure the safety of older toddlers and children while driving. One key factor in car safety for children, regardless of age, is the airbag. Airbags are credited with saving thousands of lives a year, but because they are designed for average-size adults and inflate with explosive force, they may cause injuries, especially to children. These simple, but important, airbag safety tips can help to prevent such injuries and, consequently, keep your children safer in the car. Have children under 12 years sit in back Any child under the age of 12 years is safer buckled into the back seat of the car than in the front. Even before airbags were introduced, the back seat was safer; the National Safe Kids Campaign reports that children seated in the back are 36 percent less likely to be killed in the event of a car accident. Put rear-facing infant car seats in the back One of the most dangerous situations possible is when a rear-facing infant car seat has been installed in the front seat of a car equipped with a passenger airbag. If your child is less than one year old or weighs less than 20 pounds, be sure to put him in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat. Otherwise, placing a rear-facing car seat in the front puts the infant dangerously in the path of the airbag, which inflates with significant force, and the results can be devastating. Make sure all children are buckled in Studies show that seatbelts save lives. And when it comes to airbag safety, their role is no less important. The fact is, airbags are best suited to prevent serious head injuries when they are put to the test by a passenger who is wearing his seatbelt. An unrestrained child who gets thrown forward by abrupt braking (which often occurs before a crash) is tossed dangerously close to the location of the airbag. Again, the effect of the bag's inflation can be devastating. Know if your car has airbags You can find out whether or not your car is equipped with airbags by checking the instruction manual or by looking for an airbag warning--typically located on the sun visor or in the front right corner of the door frame. Also, some automobiles have an airbag cover on the dash that's labeled SRS, SIR, or SRS/Air Bag. Sit as far from the airbag as possible As the driver, whose feet need to reach the pedals, you may be limited as to how far away you can sit from the steering wheel. But your child (or any front-seat passenger, for that matter) should have the passenger seat set back as far as it can go. The greater the distance between your buckled-in child and the dashboard, the slimmer the chance he will be harmed by an inflating airbag. Use the airbag shut-off switch In some instances, a child must be put in the front seat of the car. In the case of pickup trucks (which typically don't have a back seat), some models made after 1996 have a switch that allows the car's owner to shut off the passenger side airbag. When available, this is the safest option for infants or children who need to be placed in the front seat. In addition, a vehicle owner can apply to have airbag on-off switches installed if he can prove that certain factors place him or his family in one of four risk groups: owning a rear-facing infant car seat, having a child between the ages of 1 and 12, being unable to drive with the seat pushed back at least 10 inches, or having an unusual physical or medical condition. To be considered eligible for an on-off switch, you must fill out a request form from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). You can pick up the form at your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office, or request one by calling NHTSA's Auto Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or by visiting the NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
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