NHTSA recommends turning off passenger airbags whenever a child aged 12 or younger travels in the front seat because of the risk of inflation injuries caused by deploying airbags. Passenger airbags should be turned on whenever someone aged 13 or older rides in the front seat. Vehicle manufacturers started installing switches for passenger airbags in 1966. A survey of 3,000 drivers of pickup trucks in California, Georgia, Michigan and Texas, USA showed that nearly all drivers indicated awareness that their vehicles were equipped with on/off switches and most knew the position the switch was in. Passenger airbags were left on about a quarter of the time when children 1 to 6 years old were in the front seat and about three-quarters of the time for children aged 7-12 years. Airbags were turned off for about 17% of adult passengers. Airbags in future models will detect when a child is present in the front seat.
Abstract