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One week after the October 10 "accident" , stories in the Salt Lake Tribune, here in Utah, carried details of the death. The medical examiner said "the air bag definitely caused the death of the boy- by breaking his neck."
After checking out information on the airbag tragedy, North Salt Lake Police Chief Val Wilson said "We don't feel there was any negligence on her ( Lynn Oliver's ) part", and "the damage to the car was minimal," proving the car was traveling at a slow speed.
"Investigators" from General Motors and the NHTSB ( National Highway Transportation Safety Board ) came into North Salt Lake to determine whether Jordan was wearing his seat belt at the time of the air-bag deployment.
The auto-maker and the airbag manufacturer didn't seem to be being targeted here with regards to the equipment that "led to the death of the boy." No, the focus was now on whether he had been in his seatbelt. At the "reported" 10- 15 miles an hour, it would not have killed him anyway, so why was the investigation looking into this area when, in fact, the air-bag was responsible for the boy's death?
Mrs. Oliver had already told police she personally strapped him into the seatbelt and Police Chief Wilson stated "the dual airbags inflated, twisting Jordan's head and killing him." So why were the investigator's hanging around looking into 'who didn't buckle who up'?
Their answer in the Tribune article was, "We felt we needed to know what happened in this incident", agency spokesman Tim Hurd said. He went on to say, "the case joins a number of others in which air bags deployed and children in passenger seats died " , and that no other deaths involved a Camaro Z28.
Good for General Motors, but does this mean other makes of vehicles with air bags have also killed adults and children?
Let's back up a bit here and take a look at this thing again...
A little boy dies, after the slow-moving car in which he is riding bumps into a planter curb in a parking lot, activating an airbag "safety" device.
Whether he was wearing a seatbelt or not, he died because an airbag "exploded" out at him from the dashboard at a speed of 200 mph, with 2600 lbs of pressure behind it.
Does it begin to sound like these bombs in your dashboard might be a "little more" dangerous than the Morton Company, the Automakers, the NHTSA and NHTSB have told us?
The article tells that NHTSB investigator Larry Yohe is in Utah "doing a child-restraint study," and that "this is an issue where we have had a few children involved in air-bag accidents." The two accidents led to the deaths of the infants, both secured in rear-facing child seats. The Tribune continues, "Such accidents were of such concern, that one car manufacturer offers a switch to turn off the air bag on the passenger side, and others are now putting labels in cars, warning parents not to put a child seat on the passenger side."
With all the testing that is supposedly done on these consumer safety devices before bringing them to the public market, (Morton International -one air bag maker here in Utah- has spent $207 million in research and development in the past three years, according to the Tribune on November 5), shouldn't we then, as front seat occupants, be safe, fastened securely in the front seat with our seat belts?
Not always so, apparently, according to another air-bag death of a seatbelted 45-year-old woman, who had her neck broken also..
GM, although not commenting publicly, did issue a statement "reminding people that air bags work best when used with seat belts." They do? Didn't Police Chief Val Wilson just say it was the air bag that "caused the death"?
GM concluded in the article that "Because the duration of a crash is less than one-tenth of a second, air bags deploy with considerable force", and "if the front seat occupants are not properly positioned and belted, the deployment of the bag can result in serious injury to them even though there is minimal physical damage to the vehicle."
Federal investigator Yohe admitted there was only damage to the undercarriage of the Camaro, and that Jordan's injuries would have been "relatively minor" had he not been wearing his seat belt and the air bag not used at all. Yohe's concluding statement, however,"This could be a fluke for all we know" isn't true as the agency does know of other cases of children dying as a result of air-bag deployment, by their own admission, and by putting in place a special task force to look into air bag-related deaths, in September, 95.
According to an October 28 article in the Salt Lake Tribune, the NHTSA announced the findings on the case of Jordan, following their investigation. Following this announcement, the NHTSB, the sister-agency in Washington issued a car safety warning to parents across the nation, urging drivers to have children ride in the back seat, strapped in with seat belts, in vehicles equipped with air-bags. They did? And if they did, who heard about it?
The "agency" is examining the deaths of six children involving air-bags as part of a review of child safety and air bags. The same week Jordan died, a Maryland girl was killed in a similar accident," the SL Tribune article of October 28 read, and also that " investigators believe (the children) either were not wearing seat belts or were not secured properly."
NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez said the six recent deaths involving children and air bags suggest children face "special risks" in the front seat, even with seat belts.
Death surely is a very special risk. Maybe our governmental agencies need a "special" meeting to get their public statements and announcements straight.
The article continues, saying "More than 50 million vehicles already are equipped with air bags. Those numbers are expected to increase dramatically in coming years because all U. S. passenger cars and trucks are required to include them for both front seats by the 1998 model year.
Isn't it time to
In addition, the market for air bags is growing to include Europe, where Morton has two facilities, and in Japan, where the company has a plant.
It goes on to say the NHTSA Administrator said the agency is aware of six crashes, some at low speed, in which a child was killed when riding in the front seat without wearing a seatbelt. He said in two other crashes infants riding in rear-facing child seats were killed when the air bag caused "head injuries".
Martinez said it is safer for children to ride in the rear seat, but if they must sit in the front, they should use the lap and shoulder belts.
Martinez goes on to say "it's alarming that after years of unprecedented national awareness about the importance of seat belts and seat belt laws in all but two states, that 40% of children still ride unprotected."
Mr. Martinez.. Aren't you forgetting that we're talking about air bags, not seat belts? Let's try to keep on the subject; and don't forget that Jordan was seat-belted when the air bag killed him, in a car going 5-10 mph, and that there are currently no "national awareness programs" I've seen or heard of. You could begin using some of our tax dollars to get that message out.
October 24, the same day the Child Safety Forum article was released, this
Due to the high speed (200 mph) at which air bags are designed to deploy, the child's head will be rotated posteriorly after making contact with the deploying air bag and this motion has resulted in subdural hematoma and diffuse axonal injury."
Listen again to the NHTSA advising two totally contradicting ways children should ride in an air bag-equipped car, "Based on these and other cases, the NHTSA has advised that children should always be placed in the rear of a vehicle. If a child must sit in the right front passenger seat behind an airbag, the seat should be in the rear-most position and that the child be properly restrained with locking clips used as needed in the belting."
Didn't you just say that the seat belts do not engage properly with a small child due to the needed inertia force for the belt system to lock and restrain their forward motion into the path of the deploying airbag?
If our government (NHTSA) is aware of the very real hazards involved with airbag use (especially to our children), why isn't more being done to warn the public? What kind of "safety" device is this, that you are being told to hide your children in the back seat for them not to be killed or injured by it?
This article (SL Tribune Nov 3,95) reports Investigator Yohe as saying that" NHTSA officials have discovered eight incidents in the last 13 months that show air bags, when not used properly, can be dangerous."
How do you use an air bag "properly"?
The story goes on, "Of the eight accidents, six resulted in fatalities and two with serious injuries. Four involved infants in rear-facing car seats in the front seat. Officials from NHTSB and the NHTSA ruled that the air bag killed Jordan.
The NHTSB recommends:
Did we forget the 45 year old woman that died also? She wasn't seated in the passenger seat, she was the driver! What about notifying parents of children "over" the age of one, and the rest of the population?
A 1990 video now shown to new parents in many hospitals around the U. S. stills shows how to put the children in the front seat. The NHTSB wants the tape replaced with a more current message. Safety board officials concluded that in each of the eight accidents, the child would have survived with minor or no injuries had the air bag not deployed. In Jordan's case Yohe concluded the boy was "out of position" when the accident occurred.
How can an innocent child, strapped into a seat belt, and still be killed by an air bag, be "out of position" ?
This was the best Yohe could say about the fact that an air bag exploded at 200mph with a force of 2600 pounds, out of the dashboard of a car going 5-10 mph in a parking lot, wiping out a small boy's life, with a full future ahead of him.
The industry can't seem to decide if the "10-2" steering grip will help reduce injury or death to the driver, or that maybe it should be the "9-3" grip. One thing is for sure though, that with the over 50 million air bags on the road, and little continuing education and notification on the subject, we are likely to see more deaths this year and every year thereafter.
How close to my head will this side-impact "bomb" be going off?
The bag itself (Salt Lake Tribune, Nov 5,95) is so heavy and course that the fabric manufacturer, Precision Fabrics Group, Inc., has been perfecting new parachute-material bags that are smaller, lighter, and "expected to leave fewer scratches on victims' faces."
Why not, with profits of 238 million dollars ,go world-wide, or at least nation-wide, instead of spending only a few thousand dollars on their "state-wide" program?
They sell the air bags around the country and are expanding world-wide; wouldn't it be wise at this point to "get the word out" about these "problems" and how to deal with them so as not to add any more undue deaths to your rolls?
The story reports "George Kirchoff, vice-president of business and development for the company, which produces 18 million air bags a year", as saying, "We have great sadness over recent deaths of children in automobiles with air bags."
Education is needed on the subject of "positioning". Morton says you have to be 10-15 inches away from the air bags, have your hands on the steering wheel in a "certain position", and have your seat belt on for air bags to work properly.
Mr. Kirchoff then asserted "Jordan's death would probably not have happened if the victim had been seated properly," and in the same interview says, "Only the combination of air bags and seat belts provides maximum protection."
Mr. Kirchoff, with over 20 years in the seat belt industry, don't you know seat belts don't properly restrain small children?
It's apparent the point is still being missed, even by Morton itself, and as stated before, Lynn Oliver put Jordan in his seatbelt in the same "position" any of us would,
The fact is "the Morton International Company's air bag shot out of the dashboard at over 200mph, packing over 2600 pounds of pressure, and took the life of Little Jordan.
Yohe was in town to try to determine
Government Warning: Air Bags Can Kill Kids
The Point Is, Again,
Being Missed
... which is-
children are dying and we have not been educated to the dangers awaiting ourselves and our children should we be involved in an accident. The reports "issued" to the parents "nation-wide" are no more than a simple statement that gets picked by local papers for a day or two, and then they're gone. Not everyone even gets the newspaper, so how could the agency's "nationwide" notification have made much of a difference?
How will we protect ourselves with these "bombs" planted in our dashboards?
About the middle of September, 95, a task force was put together after becoming alarmed that children were dying in slow-speed crashes. Why then did Yohe say that Jordan's and the little girl's from Maryland deaths could just be a"fluke"?
Braking propels children toward the dashboard, investigators believe, and in that position, young people may be slammed by the deploying air bags. "Preferably they should sit in the back seat, " Martinez said. What happened to "never" having children in the front seat, and "always" in the back?
Give Us A Choice
whether we want these "safety" devices in our vehicles?
Notice on New Cars With Air Bags
(this is the "warning label" to be in all cars with air bags)
All cars with air bags will have a caution sign on the visor that will read:
CAUTION: TO AVOID SERIOUS INJURY
Now it's beginning to sound more than a little dangerous to be near one of these things, yet the government is making them required "safety" equipment in all passenger vehicles by 1998? Somebody better get back to the drawing board quick, and it's time the public really be notified, and continually reminded, until there is a better awareness of the danger.
Two reports with "mixed messages" came out shortly after the investigators left North Salt Lake. Beginning with the
Child Safety Forum
"the NHTSA said Friday that children could be seriously injured or killed by an air bag in a crash if they are not wearing a seat belt.
NOW WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND, AFTER READING THIS MUCH DOUBLE-TALK, WOULD KNOWINGLY STRAP THEIR CHILD INTO A FRONT SEAT WITH A LETHAL BOMB IN THE DASHBOARD, NOT TO MENTION THE ONE IN FRONT OF THE DRIVER IN THE STEERING WHEEL!
Next he says that with the seat belts and the air bags together in a crash that you have a 50% effectiveness in preventing fatal injuries compared with not having either. He forgot to say that the seat belt system is to be credited for 35% or more of the 50% effectiveness, leaving only a 10-15% increase in performance because of the airbag. Is 10-15% enough of a difference to risk killing a child? Perhaps in a high speed crash 10-15% could help, but on October 10, 1995, in a 5-10 mph planter bumping it was proven they are not worth being "required equipment".
Safety Flash
(NHTSA-Oct. 24 95)
was issued, saying "The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has seen one severe and two fatal air bag-associated injuries. These motor vehicle crashes were survived with minor injuries by the adult drivers. The children would have survived with minimal injuries as well if they were sitting in the BACK SEAT. Children do not belong in the front seat".
Now listen to this:
"Another hazardous situation occurs when the vehicles belting system is used to restrain a small child. Many of these belt systems are inertially loaded, i. e., the passenger must move forward at a given force before the belt system will lock and restrain the passenger. In this case, the restraint system allows forward motion of small children during the crash, thereby bringing the child's face in close proximity to the deploying air bag."
Air Bag Accidents Prompt Warning
Have you seen this information anywhere?
What position?
How far out is out?
Let's not forget that the seat belt systems don't always engage properly with a small child.
Finally the NHTSB issued "recommendations" to the media outlets, car manufacturers, and hospitals that,"If the safety devices are not "used properly, they can kill." Are the car manufacturers going to warn you that your new car is likely to kill one of your children in the event of an accident, should they be sitting in the front seat,"out of position"; or that, should you hit a speed bump or planter curb, they could also die? Hardly.
The end of the Child Safety Forum stated that NHTSA will issue a request for mourning, the 25 dead because of air bags . Any one of the 25 deaths should serve to remind us that change in needed now!
Air bag Industry Growing
Salt Lake Tribune November 5, 95
Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the consumer funded Center for Auto Safety in Washington D. C. summed it up as well saying," The government needs to step in and make every one of the Automakers use the best technology." He was referring to how Honda is now using airbags that deploy "up and out" rather than "straight out" at the occupant. He went on to say "one inadvertent death is one death too many."
Morton International
Morton International made a profit of $238 million in
1995 from it's air bag division sales of $1.2 billion.
Morton is expanding it's 5200 employee operation to 5700 in conjunction with Ford Motor Company, Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo, all committing recently to the inclusion of "side impact airbags" in their new models.
Will the Big Three car makers be showing the same slow-motion enactment of the dummy falling forward into a billowy, soft, cloud-like air bag during his brush with death, or will they tell us
the truth-
that the bag and chemicals accompanying the deployment can and do cause skin burns and irritation, eyeglass impalement in eyes, fractures, head injuries, and even death.
Air Bag Maker Campaigns for Safety
This article in the Salt Lake Tribune December 2,1995 began by telling how Morton International was going to spend "several thousand dollars" in educational programs statewide, "scheduled" to begin in January 1996. This company made profits of 238 million dollars in 1995( up 38% from 1994- when they made 175 million).
(we don't get training from your company, Mr. Kirchoff)
and bumped a planter curb in a parking lot, resulting in an air bag deployment and the death of Jordan.
The Point is...
Jordan would not have died, as admitted by many of the people quoted in this story, had he been in a car without Morton's air bags.
Mr. Kirchoff, the car was going less than 10 mph... With 25 years "in the business", you must have known about the warnings the automakers made to the NHTSB long ago, and all you can talk about is "positioning" at a time like this?
And all he was doing that day was going for a ride with Grandma.
Read this if you don't read anything else!!!
Thank you for stopping by our son's homepage. As parents/grandparents we pray that no one will have to go through what we have because they were not informed or educated as to the dangers of airbags.
Sincerely,
Mark A. and Lynn Oliver
4070 South Bridlewood Drive
Bountiful, Utah 84010
We would like to hear from you if you have experienced an injury caused by airbag deployment. This page may be copied, referenced to, and distributed. Please add a link on your page if you like.
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