Kids and airbags

[Unregistered]

I'm having a bit of a disagreement with my mother over the safety of my 8-year-old daughter riding in the front seat of her Mazda 6. She says there is no danger because the car is equipped with an airbag cutoff sensor, so she can cut it off when my daughter sits there. Is this true? Is there any reason besides airbags that my state (Indiana) recommends kids younger than 13 ride in the back seat?

 

[wendytthomas]

Your daughter should be in the backseat with a booster. The adult safety systems in the front seat are not suitable for a child. There is no switch to throw in the Mazda. You're relying on the sensors. My Mazda is 60 pounds. So if your daughter plus booster is more than 60 pounds, then the airbag will go off. Since she's short with an immature skeleton, the airbag would likely hit her in the wrong spot, and cause her damage. Remember, the airbag is a mostly contained explosion. It's used because in general for an adult, the benefits outweigh the risks. For a child that's reversed.

In my state it's illegal to have kids in the front seat if you have a backseat place to put them in.

As the airbag warning label in your mom's car says, kids can be injured or killed in the front seat, so put them in the back. That's not just a yellow sticker.

Wendy

 

[Brigala]

:yeahthatsad:

And, might I add, you are the mother. You don't have to convince your mom. She had her chance when she raised you, and chances are there weren't air bags in the car you had growing up. I'm sure she did just fine, but now it's your turn. Your daughter, your rules.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Even if the airbag was off, that doesn't make the front seat automatically safe for a kid in a booster. Kids in boosters are safer in the back seat, regardless of whether or not there is an airbag, in general. Some of the reasons include less risk of intrusion in most crashes, and them being toward the center of the vehicle as much as possible, maximizing the ability of the shell of the car and its crumple zones and energy dissipation features to protect her.