October 2004 - Accident Reconstruction Newsletter

Air Bags - Minimizing risk and injury

Air bags deploy very rapidly. Very close or direct contact with the air bag can cause serious or even fatal injury as the air bag first begins to deploy. Ensure proper seating position and proper safety restraint usage for all occupants in the vehicle. Remember:

• Always buckle your safety belt.
• Keep about 10 inches between your breastbone and the cover of the air bag module.
• Never place a rear-facing infant seat in front of an air bag, unless the air bag ON-OFF switch is in the OFF position.
• Place children age 12 and under in the back seat and ensure they're properly restrained.

Occupants

• All occupants should be properly restrained with either a safety belt or the proper child safety restraint, whether or not the vehicle has air bags.
• Serious or even fatal air bag-related injuries can occur if occupants are not properly restrained and in a proper seating position.
• Unrestrained or improperly restrained occupants will move forward during the hard braking before a crash. In addition to striking the interior of the vehicle, these occupants are very likely to be on top of the air bag as it begins to inflate.
• For properly restrained occupants, most air bag injuries are minor cuts, bruises or abrasions and are far less serious than the head trauma injuries that air bags can prevent.
• Even in vehicles with advanced frontal air bags, NHTSA still warns that serious or fatal injuries can occur if front seat occupants are not properly restrained and in a proper seating position.
• If your vehicle is equipped with advanced frontal air bags, make sure you understand the meaning of the "PASS AIR BAG OFF" indicator light. (See Advanced Frontal Air Bag FAQ)
• Dust off your owner's manual and familiarize yourself with the location and operation of all the air bags in your vehicle.
• As a driver, maintain at least 10 inches between your breastbone and the center of the steering wheel. For additional information on how to achieve this 10-inch distance, click link to "Specific Needs-Small-stature and Elderly Adults" in the Advanced Frontal Air Bag FAQ.

Parents & Caregivers

• Never place an infant ina rear-facing child safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle with an active front passenger air bag.
• Children age 12 and under are safest sitting properly restrained in the back seat. They should use child safety seats, booster seats or safety belts appropriate for their age and size.
• To minimize injury risks, NHTSA recommends that children not lean or rest against chest-only or head/chest combination side air bags (SABs).
• NHTSA has not seen any indication of risks to children from current roof-mounted head SABs.
• There may be occasions when a parent or caregiver has no other option than to place a child other than an infant in a rear-facing child safety seat in the right front seat, such as:
  • In a pickup truck with insufficient or no available rear seat, or
  • If a parent is transporting too many children for all to ride in the back, or
  • If a child with a medical condition requires monitoring, and another adult is not available to accompany the driver.
• In the event there is no available rear seat and/or parents have no other option than to place a child other than an infant in a rear-facing child safety seat in a front passenger seating position, take these steps:
  • Ensure the child* is properly restrained according to their age and size,
  • Move the seat as far back as possible,
  • Make sure the child is not leaning out of position, such as leaning forward into the deployment path of the air bag and
  • Set the air bag ON-OFF switch, if available, to the OFF position.
• If you must regularly transport a child in the front seat and your vehicle does not have an air bag ON-OFF switch, then you should consider getting an ON-OFF switch for the passenger frontal air bag.
• For more information, please visit www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/newtips/tip9.html
  
  *When faced with having to choose which child to place in front of an air bag in the front seat, select the child that can be relied upon to remain in proper seating position. This may not necessarily be the oldest child, but the child who is restrained securely at all times.
  
• Real world experience with children and SABs: NHTSA crash investigators actively seek out cases where SABs have deployed in crashes. 92 cases have been investigated; only 6 have involved children. There have been no moderate or serious injuries to children from SAB deployments, and only one minor injury – a skin laceration from an SAB cover. This small number of cases involves a limited number of vehicles with SABs and may not be representative of the variety of SAB systems currently available. NHTSA continues to closely monitor the real world performance of SABs involving children and adults.
• To see if your vehicle’s SABs were designed to minimize risk to children, consumers should check to see if a vehicle meets the voluntary Technical Working Group (TWG) guidelines. Vehicles that meet the voluntary TWG guidelines will have an “M” for Meets requirement in the column labeled “SAB Out of Position Testing” in the Available Features chart of each vehicle’s page at www.safercar.gov. If your vehicle does not have an “M,” you should check your owner’s manual or contact the vehicle manufacturer to find out whether your car’s SABs are safe for children.
• The best way to find out what type of SAB your vehicle has is to look in your owner’s manual or to check with your dealer. NHTSA also provides this information in a searchable SAB database; currently only model year 2004 and 2005 information is available. Earlier model year will be available shortly.

Small-stature & Elderly Adults
It has generally been found to be safe, and will continue to be safe, for smaller adults and elderly people to be seated in front of an air bag as long as they are properly belted, maintain a proper seating position and move the seat as far back as possible.

Drivers concerned about achieving the recommended 10-inch distance between the air bag cover in the steering wheel and the driver's breastbone should:

1. Ensure they are properly belted,
2. Maintain a proper seating position,
3. Move the seat as far back as possible while still comfortably reaching the pedals,
4. Recline the back of the seat slightly, and
5. Tilt the steering wheel downward, if it is adjustable. (Tilting the steering wheel downward points the air bag toward the breastbone instead of the head and neck.)

Those who still cannot get far enough away from the steering wheel should ask their vehicle manufacturer about the availability of pedal extenders. If the above does not work and a driver still cannot comfortably achieve the 10-inch distance, an air bag ON-OFF switch may be considered. With the introduction of advanced air bags beginning in the 2004 model year, much of the risk of an air bag-related injury is minimized and an ON-OFF switch may not be necessary.

Pregnant Women
The combination of safety belts and air bags offers the best level of protection to pregnant women, as long as they follow the same advice as other adults: ensure they are properly belted, maintain a proper seating position and move the seat as far back as possible.

The lap belt should be positioned low on the abdomen, below the fetus, with the shoulder belt worn normally. When crashes occur, the fetus can be injured by striking the lower rim of the steering wheel or from crash forces concentrated in the area where a seat belt crosses the mother's abdomen. The seat belt will keep a pregnant woman as far as possible from the steering wheel. The air bag will help spread out the crash forces that would otherwise be concentrated by the seat belt.

Women late in pregnancy may not be able to get their abdomens away from the steering wheel. If the vehicle has a tilt steering wheel, pregnant women should make sure the steering wheel is tilted toward the breastbone, not the abdomen or the head.

Medical Conditions
Some individuals may have certain medical conditions where the risks of a deploying air bag exceed the risk of impacting the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield in the absence of an air bag. These individuals may apply for an air bag ON-OFF switch or request the air bag be deactivated. (For either the driver or passenger frontal air bag.)

The list of approved medical conditions is the same whether a consumer is applying for a frontal air bag ON-OFF switch or requesting the frontal air bag be deactivated. NHTSA will only consider requests for deactivation when your vehicle manufacturer does not make an ON-OFF switch available for your particular vehicle.

The list of approved medical conditions can be viewed by visiting "What are the medical conditions for which an air bag may be deactivated?" in the Air Bag Deactivation FAQ.

###

• About Air Bags - module, crash sensors, electronic control unit, on-off switch, during deployment, after deployment.
• Types of Air Bags - front, side, curtain, tubular, seat-mount, door-mount, combo.
• Minimizing Risk and Injury - occupants, parents, small adults, elderly, pregnant women, medical conditions, first responders, children.
• New Air Bag Technology
• Air Bags Photos and Video
• Additional Resources for Air Bags
• Air Bags - FAQ
• ARC Network New Members
• November 2004 Training Events
  (Currently 4 events scheduled)
• In The News
• Membership Information

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