Safety Flash
Issued October 24, 1995
In the past six months, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has seen one severe and two fatal airbag-associated injuries. These motor vehicle crashes were survived with minor injuries by the adult drivers. These 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.
Airbags work optimally when deployed fully before making contact with the vehicle occupant. Airbags have saved many lives by cushioning the contact the passenger makes with the interior structures of the vehicle. However, if the passenger makes contact with the airbag as it is deploying, injuries may result, including abrasions, eyeglass impalement in eyes, fractures, and head injuries.
In adults contact with the deploying airbag can be minimized by placing the vehicle seat in its rearmost position and using the restraint system properly. In the optimal condition, the seatbelt limits forward movement of the occupant so that the airbag is inflated fully before making contact with the occupant. If the passenger is in close proximity to the airbag or is unrestrained, the airbag, which deploys at 140-200 mph, will make contact with the passenger. Remembering that kinetic energy is related to the square of velocity, the airbag will ADD energy to the system thereby increasing the risk of injury.
In children, two particularly hazardous situations occur for the front seat passenger sitting behind an airbag. When a rearfacing infant seat is placed behind an airbag, the close proximity of the back of the safety seat with the airbag causes rearward acceleration of the safety seat when the airbag deploys. This is depicted in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration test shown in the graphic above.
Another hazardous situation occurs when the vehicle's 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 then 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 airbag. Due to the high speed with which airbags are designed to deploy, the child's head will rotated posteriorly after making contact with the deploying airbag and this motion resulted in a a small subdural hematoma and diffuse axonal injury.
Based on these and other cases, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has advised that children should always be placed in the rear seat of a vehicle. If a child must sit in the right front passenger seat behind an airbag, the seat should be in the rearmost position and that the child properly restrained with locking clips used as needed on the belting. It is important to reiterate that airbags have saved many lives, but like all safety technologies, must be used properly to maximize effectiveness and minimize additional injuries.