The following safety features are not typically considered
specific to children, but they do have an impact on children
and/or teenagers. In researching the purchase of a new or
used vehicle, it is important to consider how these
technologies may affect everyone in your family.
Rear-Seat Active Head Restraints
The newest type of head restraint is an active head
restraint, which comes in a number of designs for the
front and back seats of vehicles. Preliminary research
has shown that active head restraints may help reduce
whiplash.
While this safety feature has no impact on young children,
who should be properly secured in their own child safety
seats, rear-seat active head restraints may provide
additional protection for older children or teenagers
during a rear-end crash. In such a crash, active head
restraints automatically close the gap between the
occupant’s head and the head restraint — and in some
instances increase their height relative to the occupant’s
head. (Note that the active head restraints may also be
adjusted manually.)
Frontal Air Bags
Frontal air bags deploy forcefully and rapidly, posing a
danger for children 12 and younger. Therefore, NHTSA
recommends all children 12 and under should always ride in
the rear seat, where it’s safest for them. Vehicles with
no rear seat, or a rear seat that is not appropriate for a
child safety seat, may have a switch that lets the driver
control the front-seat passenger air bag.
Advanced Frontal Air Bags
Designed to meet the needs of occupants in a variety of
specific crash situations, advanced frontal air bag systems
use sensors to automatically determine if — and with what
level of power — the driver frontal air bag and passenger
frontal air bag will inflate.
The appropriate level of power is based upon sensor
inputs that can typically detect:
- Occupant size
- Seat position
- Safety belt use of the occupant
- Crash severity.
Even in vehicles equipped with advanced frontal air bags,
children 12 and younger should never ride in the front seat.
However, parents whose teenagers 13 and older ride in the
front seat of the family vehicle should be aware of the
advantages of this new technology, particularly as teenagers
tend to be of smaller stature than the average adult.
Currently, vehicles equipped with advanced frontal air
bags are being phased into the marketplace. In fact, all
passenger cars and light trucks produced after September
1, 2006, will be required to have advanced frontal air bags.
Side-Impact Air Bags
Side-impact air bag (SAB) technology has advanced rapidly
over recent years and various types of SABs have emerged.
SABs offer additional protection to two principal areas
of the body — the head and the chest — during side-impact
crashes.
Head-protecting curtain or tubular SABs deploy overhead
and downward from the roof rail. Door-mounted or seat-mounted
SABs, also called torso bags, are designed to offer
protection to the chest. A combination SAB, or “combo bag,”
deploys from the seatback and offers protection to both the
chest and head.
Read the owner’s manual or contact your manufacturer for
specific information about how the side air bag system in
your vehicle works in the event of a crash.
Visit www.safercar.gov/airbags
for more detail on SABs and children. NHTSA also provides
more detailed information in a searchable SAB database
at www.safercar.gov.
Some facts that parents will want to remember about
child occupant protection in general — and side air bags
in particular — are listed here:
- All children should use safety restraints
appropriate for their age and size (this could be
a safety seat, booster seat, or adult safety belt).
- Children 12 and younger are safest sitting in the
rear seat properly restrained.
- To minimize injury risks, NHTSA recommends that
children not lean or rest against chest-only or
head/chest combinations SABs.
- NHTSA has not seen any indication of risks to
children from current roof-mounted head SABs.
Interior Trunk Release
Almost all passenger cars with trunks manufactured after
September 1, 2001, are required to be equipped with
interior trunk releases. This safety feature is intended
to help all individuals — and especially children — who
may become locked in the trunk of a vehicle to escape.
Check with your automobile dealer for specific information
on the type of trunk release system offered and which
vehicle manufacturers offer retrofit kits for older cars.
Ensure that your children know where the interior trunk
release is located and how to use it.
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