Life-saving air bags can kill children

Coalition formed to improve safety record

May 21, 1996
Web posted at: 10:40 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government and the auto industry are teaming up to explain why air bags can be dangerous -- and how to give children a safer ride.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and several executives announced Tuesday a new coalition of auto makers, insurers, and manufacturers of safety equipment.

The coalition plans to educate drivers about the need to make sure children are properly secured in moving vehicles, even those equipped with air bags. (995K QuickTime movie)

Air bags deploy with such force that they can kill a child riding without a seat belt.

Nineteen children have been killed by air bags. Most were not wearing seat belts or were using them improperly. A rear-facing child safety seat, for example, can crush an infant if belted into a front passenger seat.

The latest victim was a 7-year-old boy who died one week ago in a low-speed crash in New York. A piece of an air bag system cut his throat.

Air bags have been installed in 50 million vehicles over the past nine years. It's estimated they have saved more than 1,500 lives.

Pena says proper education, along with law enforcement, is the key to improving child passenger safety. He pointed out that 75 percent of motorists use seat belts in North Carolina, where a seat belt law is strongly enforced. The state also has checkpoints to ensure motorists are wearing seat belts.

General Motors and other auto makers and insurance companies in the coalition have pledged $10 million toward the new educational effort. The coalition also will lobby state legislatures for stronger laws requiring the use of seat belts, and for better enforcement of those laws.

As of 1998, the federal government will require all new cars to have front-seat air bags. By that time, cars may also be equipped with infrared sensors that automatically turn off the passenger-side air bag if there is an infant carrier in the seat.

But safety experts say one guideline will not change: The best place for an infant carrier will still be the center of the back seat.

Related sites:

• U.S. Department of Transportation
• General Motors
• AAA Michigan - Air Bags and Children

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