So You Want to Deactivate Your Air Bag?

The Air Bag Safety Campaign has termed deactivation a “very serious action.” With 1,600 lives saved since 1986, it is clear supplemental restraints work. Here are some points on air bag safety benefits:

• The current policy (with NHTSA allowing deactivation only on a case-by-case) will remain in effect until at least early 1997, after the agency’s comment period is concluded and the final decision is reached.
• The Air Bag Safety Campaign has termed deactivation a “very serious action.” There has been an 11 percent reduction in passenger car driver fatalities, including a 30 percent reduction in fatalities in head-on crashes.
• If any parents are considering deactivation to allow their children to ride in front, they should be aware that studies have shown 29 percent fewer fatalities for children riding in the back seat, whether or not the car is air bag equipped.
• The air bag that may be a threat to a child riding in the front seat is the same air bag that could save the child’s parents in a serious crash.
• Short-stature drivers certainly should be advised to move the seat as far back as possible while still allowing safe operation of the vehicle.

One of the most important pieces of advice is quite simple: Buckle up! Air bags are supplemental crash protection—safety belts are primary!