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Airbags: These Devices Have Slashed The Highway Death Toll

Airbags are one of the most important safety innovations of recent decades. They provide crucial cushioning for people during a crash. The devices are normally hidden from view but inflate instantly when a crash begins. Thanks to the advocacy of IIHS and others, frontal airbags have been required in all new passenger vehicles since the 1999 model year. Side airbags aren’t specifically mandated, but nearly all manufacturers include them as standard equipment in order to meet federal side protection requirements.

Both frontal and side airbags save lives. Frontal airbags reduce driver fatalities in frontal crashes by 29 percent and fatalities of front-seat passengers age 13 and older by 32 percent. Side airbags that protect the head reduce a car driver’s risk of death in driver-side crashes by 37 percent and an SUV driver’s risk by 52 percent.

Engineers keep finding new ways to use airbags. Some vehicles now have rear-window curtain airbags to protect people in back seats or front-center airbags to keep drivers and front-seat passengers from hitting each other in a crash. There are also inflatable safety belts aimed at reducing rear-seat injuries.

Source: Insurance Information Institute, “Airbags.” iihs.org website. Accessed July, 2019. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/airbags/topicoverview

© Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

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Safety & Prevention

An air bag can save your life. However, air bags and young children are a dangerous combination. The following information will help keep you and your children safe:

  • The safest place for all infants and children younger than 13 years to ride is in the back seat.
  • Never put an infant in the front seat of a car, truck, SUV, or van with a passenger air bag.
  • All children should be properly secured in car safety seats, belt-positioning booster seats, or the lap and shoulder belts correct for their size.
    • All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
    • All children 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car safety seat, should use a forward-facing car safety seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
    • All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car safety seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet 9 inches in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
    • When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt alone, they should always use lap and shoulder seat belts for optimal protection.
  • Side air bags improve safety for adults in side impact crashes, but children who are not properly restrained and are seated near a side air bag may be at risk for serious injury. Check your vehicle owner’s manual to see what it says about children and side air bags.
  • New “advanced” air bags make travel safer for adults, but it is not yet known how they will affect the safety of children. Even though these new air bags may be safer, the back seat is still the safest place for children younger than 13 years to ride.

What Parents Can Do

  • Eliminate potential risks of air bags to children by buckling them in the back seat for every ride.
  • Plan ahead so that you do not have to drive with more children than can be safely restrained in the back seat.
  • For most families, installation of air bag on/off switches is not necessary. Air bags that are turned off provide no protection to older children, teens, parents, or other adults riding in the front seat.
  • Air bag on/off switches should only be used if your child has special health care needs for which your pediatrician recommends constant observation during travel and no other adult is available to ride in the back seat with your child.
  • If no other arrangement is possible and an older child must ride in the front seat, move the vehicle seat back as far as it can go, away from the air bag. Be sure the child is restrained properly for his size. Keep in mind that your child may still be at risk for injuries from the air bag. The back seat is the safest place for children to ride.

Source: Healthy Children.Org, “Safety & Prevention.” healthychildren.org website. Accessed July, 2019

© Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

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IN: Air Bag Safety: Children & Air Bags Don’t Mix

Dear Valued Customer,

In this issue of “————–” we focus on air bag safety.

According to the NHTSA, air bags reduce deaths in frontal crashes among drivers by about 30 percent and among passengers by 27 percent. Air bags, however, can be dangerous to smaller individuals, pregnant women and the elderly. Read on and find out how you can prevent air bag injuries and use these safety devices to their best advantage.

We appreciate your continued business and look forward to serving you.

Kind regards,

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Child Passenger Safety

Reduce Their Risk

In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among children. In 2015 , 663 children ages 12 years and younger died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, and nearly 132,000 were injured. But parents and caregivers can make a lifesaving difference.

Whenever you’re on the road, make sure children are buckled in age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, or seat belts. Children under age 13 should ride properly buckled in the back seat on every trip. Never place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat or in front of an airbag. Airbags can kill young children riding in the front seat.

Data shows that:

  • In 2015 , restraint use saved the lives of 266 children ages 4 years and younger.
  • Car seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4.
  • Booster seats reduce the risk for serious injury by 45% for children ages 4 to 8 years.
  • Between 1975 and 2015 , child restraints saved an estimated 10,940 lives of children ages 4 and younger.

As part of National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 23rd is National Seat Check Saturday, when drivers with child passengers are encouraged to visit a child safety seat inspection station to have a certified technician inspect their car seat and give hands-on advice free of charge. Locate a car seat inspection station in your area.

Know the Stages

Make sure children are properly buckled up in a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt, whichever is appropriate for their age, height, and weight.

  • Birth up to age 2 – Rear-facing car seat. For the best possible protection, infants and children should be buckled in a rear-facing car seat, in the back seat, until age 2 or when they reach the upper weight or height limits of their particular seat. Check the seat’s owner’s manual and/or labels on the seat for weight and height limits.
  • Age 2 up to at least age 5 – Forward-facing car seat. When children outgrow their rear-facing seats they should be buckled in a forward-facing car seat, in the back seat, until at least age 5 or when they reach the upper weight or height limit of their particular seat. Check the seat’s owner’s manual and/or labels on the seat for weight and height limits.
  • Age 5 up until seat belts fit properly – Booster seat. Once children outgrow their forward-facing seat (by reaching the upper height or weight limit of their seat), they should be buckled in a belt positioning booster seat until seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt lays across the chest (not the neck). Remember to keep children properly buckled in the back seat for the best possible protection.
  • Once seat belts fit properly without a booster seat – Children no longer need to use a booster seat once seat belts fit them properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt lays across the chest (not the neck). For the best possible protection keep children properly buckled in the back seat.
  • Install and use car seats and booster seats according to the seat’s owner’s manual or get help installing them from a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. Find a Child Passenger Safety Technician.

Buckle all children ages 12 and under in the back seat. Airbags can kill young children riding in the front seat. Never place a rear-facing car seat in front of an airbag.

  • Buckle children in the middle of the back seat when possible, because it is the safest spot in the vehicle.
  • Buckle children in car seats, booster seats, or seat belts on every trip, no matter how short.
  • Set a good example by always using your seat belt.


Source: US Department of Health & Human Services, “Child Passenger Safety.” cdc.gov website. Accessed July 2019. http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/lifesaving/airbags/

© Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.