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Child Passenger Safety - Air Bag FAQs

Serious injuries and even fatalities are common occurrences in automobile accidents, where a small child or infant has been placed in the front seat of a vehicle.

Even the elderly are at risk when sitting too close to an air-bag.

Rear-facing child safety seats must never be used in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag.

Children 12 and under should ride buckled up in the rear seat with a lap and shoulder harness properly fitted to their size.

Everyone in the front seats should be moved as far back from the dashboard as practical.

Infants and small children must ride facing the rear of the car in the rear seat for maximum protection.

Your vehicle owner's manual and the instructions provided with your child safety seat, are the best places to get the correct installation process for your specific brand of restraint system.

Four Facts About Securing Older Children

1. If your child is too old for a safety seat, you should use a lap and shoulder belt.
2. Be sure the child sits with their head against the back of the seat.
3. The seat belt, or shoulder harness, should fit snuggly with little slack, to minimize forward movement in a crash.
4. Though you can minimize the risk of injury by proper restraints, all children are safest in the rear of a vehicle, regardless of their age or size.

For additional information regarding Child Passenger Safety and Air Bag Usage, follow the following links:

• Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign
  The National Safety Council's advice on Child Passenger Safety and Air Bags.



• Air bag safety - Buckle up everyone
  An organization dedicated to child passenger safety, offering installation tips and other valuable information regarding the safet transport of children.



• National Child Passenger Safety Week
  Center for Disease Control's National Child Passenger Safety Week - February 8–14, 2004.



• AAP - Air Bag Safety Card
  Find out how your child safety seat rates with the American Acadamy of Pediatrics.



• Potential Dangers of Air Bags to Children
  Life saving information regarding child passenger safety and air bags.



• Howstuffworks "How Air Bags Work"
  Get a quick lesson on air bags and child passenger safety at HowStuffWorks.com.

Supplimental information provided by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For further information, go to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/.