- The ARC - California Edition -

A message From CDC - Air Bags

Use of a vehicle’s lap and shoulder belts is essential to protect a motor vehicle occupant. A fully deployed air bag provides supplemental restraint and protects the occupant from impact with the dashboard or steering wheel.

Air bags deploy within 0.05 seconds at velocities of 140-200 miles per hour to ensure rapid and full deployment before the occupant has any contact with the bag.

However, for at least six reasons, children are more likely than adults to be improperly positioned in relation to a deploying air bag, and therefore at increased risk for serious injury.

First, children are more likely to move around or lean forward to look out of a window.

Second, because of the position of forward- facing child restraints, children who are properly buckled into such restraints are several inches closer to the intense forces of air bag deployment.

Third, because children’s feet usually do not touch the floor, they cannot brace themselves on the floor during precrash braking.

Fourth, children too small to have the shoulder belt fit properly across their shoulder and the lap belt across their hips may place the shoulder belt under their arm or behind their back, allowing their upper torso to move forward into the deploying air bag during precrash braking.

Fifth, because most children are shorter than adults, a child’s neck and head are more likely to contact the deploying air bag, increasing the risk for fatal or serious injury.

Finally, a rear-facing child-safety seat cannot be positioned far enough from the air bag to eliminate any risk of serious or fatal injury.

To reduce the risk for injuries associated with air bags, automotive safety engineers are designing "smart" air bags that will be appropriate for different ages and sizes of occupants.

Until passenger vehicles and light trucks are equipped with these smart air bags and they are shown to be safe and effective, all children ages<12 years should ride in the back seat using age- and size-appropriate occupant restraints.

(MMWR. 1996:45:1073-76)