Kids Always Safer in the Back Seat

09/18/96

The Los Angeles Times ran an article by Janet Dewey of the National Automotive Protection Campaign. Dewey provides parents and caregivers information about "what they can do today to help protect their children in the event of a motor vehicle crash--especially if their car has a passenger-side air bag."

Dewey points out that air bags save lives, drawing on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that indicate airbags have saved over 1,500 lives in the last nine years. She also says that any danger that deploying airbags pose to children can be entirely eliminated "by placing kids in the back seat. The back seat is, and has always been, the safest place for kids in a motor vehicle."

Dewey concludes by acknowledging the importance of developing technology that can make air bags "smarter," but she stresses that "it is also vital that parents and other drivers know the steps they can take now to prevent injury in motor vehicle crashes."

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel