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3 yr old son in front seat of TJ - airbag on or off?

2K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  reddirtdog 
#1 ·
when i do it now, i have been turning the bag off. however i noticed on the visor, it say to have it off if the car seat is the rear facing kind. obviously at 3, he is in a booster seat style. so should i have been leaving the bag on?
 
#5 ·
i have been turning it off - every time. just happened to notice what the warning said and i started to second guess myself.

i want to make sure im keeping him safe.

thanks everyone so far!
 
#6 ·
Yeah, he's still low enough that thing could do some real damage to his little face and neck if it went off on him. I understand the need to put kids up there on occasion, and you are doing the right thing by having the air bag off.
 
#8 ·
Yes, keep turning it off, if you can't put him in the back seat!
I have the airbag turned off in mine because, when the whole family goes somewhere, Skeeter drives and I'm in the passenger seat. I'm 5'3" and that's short enough for an airbag to do major damage to me. Imagine what it'll do to a really little person.
 
#10 ·
i used to work at an air bag assembly plant and i know what those thing do when they go off. please turn it off if you have your child in the front seat. an air bag going off is basically like letting a heavyweight boxer punch you in the face without any protection. they sound like a 12 gauge going off and have about as much force. just fyi, the new second generation air bags that have two stages inflate and begin to deflate all before the passenger hits the bag, in a quick 0.8 seconds.
 
#11 ·
From an emergency responder point of view, It is alway safer to put any child under 110lbs in the back seat if at all possiable. If they are in the front seat, all passenges side airbags should be turned off if possible. Any failure to do so WILL result in serious injury or possible death to the occupant under 110 even if it is a low impact crash with air bag depoyment. IF you dont belive me contact and I can give you proof of pics and true storys that I or fellow EMTs that have work accident with children in the front seat its not pretty.
 
#12 ·
I thought it was illegal for a youngster to ride in the front under 100lbs or under 4'4" or something to that effect.

i have my daughter in the back of mine always with a booster seat...but she's 5 and she helps buckle herself so it's not such a drag...but she never gets in the front, either of the TJ or the JK..shoot for that matter never in my 01 Dodge or our Durango

i had to home modify the seatbelt receiver so it wouldn't go hiding under the seat anymore!

I thought the visor said something about injury or death to a child if they contacted the air bag...
 
#13 · (Edited)
Quoted from
www.smartmotorist.com

Air Bag Safety Facts - Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety [/LEFT]
Air Bags

As of December 1999, more than 95 million, or 47 percent of all cars and light trucks on America’s roads have driver-side air bags. Almost 68 million of these also have passenger-side air bags. As of December 1998, air bags inflated in more than 3.3 million vehicles in crashes. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS) The combination lap/shoulder safety belts and air bags is the most effective safety system available for occupants of passenger vehicles, and it is 75 percent effective in preventing serious head injuries and 66 percent effective in preventing serious chest injuries. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA)
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 4,758 people are alive today because of their air bags.
AIR BAG FACTS
  • Air bags are safety devices designed to deploy in frontal but not other types of crashes. Most air bags will deploy only in a moderate-to-severe frontal crash.
  • All new passenger cars were required to have driver and passenger air bags beginning with the 1998 model year. All new light trucks, including vans and sport utility vehicles, had the same requirement as of the 1999 model year.
  • When all passenger vehicles are equipped with air bags, it is expected that more than 3,000 lives will be saved each year. (NHTSA)
  • Driver air bags reduce deaths in frontal crashes by 26 percent for drivers wearing safety belts and 32 percent for unbelted drivers. Passenger air bags reduce deaths in frontal crashes by 14 percent for passengers wearing safety belts and 23 percent for unbelted passengers. (NHTSA)
  • Occupants who are positioned too close to an air bag when it begins to deploy are at risk of serious injury. Since 1990, 149 deaths have been attributed to air bags deploying in low-speed crashes. (NHTSA) The deaths have included 68 children between ages 1 and 11, and 18 infants. (NHTSA) Of the 68 children killed, 54 are believed to have been unbuckled. (IIHS)
  • Most air bag deaths have occurred when adults or children are not properly using safety belts or correctly placed in a child safety seat. Others are at risk due to positioning – such as drivers who are less than ten inches from the steering wheel and infants who are placed in rear-facing child safety seats near a passenger air bag. (NHTSA)
AIR BAG SAFETY FACTS
  • Rear-facing child safety seats should NEVER be placed in the front seat of vehicles with passenger air bags. The impact of a deploying air bag on a rear-facing child safety seat can result in death or serious injury to the child. (NHTSA and IIHS)
  • The safest place for children under age 13 is in the back seat, properly restrained, and away from the force of a deploying air bag. (NHTSA and IIHS)
  • If children must sit in front, make sure the vehicle seat is all the way back and that the child is securely buckled and sitting back in the seat at all times. (NHTSA and IIHS)
  • Air bags may also pose a risk to small-statured adults who feel they must sit too close to the steering wheel. Even when properly belted, drivers positioned too close to the steering wheel are at risk of serious injury from a deploying air bag. They can reduce or eliminate that risk by sitting back at least 10 inches from the steering wheel. (NHTSA and IIHS)
  • NHTSA has procedures in place to allow those who are at risk of injury from an air bag to obtain on/off switches for the air bag. Only a small percentage of people – those who cannot avoid being seated too close to an air bag – should obtain an on/off switch. Before obtaining an on/off switch, small-statured drivers should consider installing pedal extenders in their automobile or look into newly manufactured automobiles that have pedal adjusters included as standard equipment.
IMPROVED AIR BAG SAFETY
  • On September 18, 1998, NHTSA proposed new rules to improve air bag safety by requiring the introduction of advanced air bags over the next several years.
  • These advanced air bag systems will increase air bag effectiveness and safety by reducing the risk of harm to out-of-position vehicle occupants from air bag deployment.
  • The new air bag technology reduces air bag risks by adjusting or suppressing air bag deployment in instances in which an occupant would otherwise be at risk.
  • Advanced air bags will enhance occupant protection and air bag safety but will not eliminate all risks. To make air bags as safe as possible, we also must increase safety belt and child safety seat use.
 
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