Air bags and kids

[Slickone]

Can anyone point me to some reliable info on what age where air bags quit being dangerous and start becoming safe & advantageous for kids?

 

[godmare]

Look at the backside of your sunvisor.
They say 12, iirc.

 

[dullard]

They are always advantageous for kids. But for lightweight ones they are also dangerous. I don't remember the exact numbers but they are somthing like this:
1) Airbags are assumed to have saved 1000 kid's lives when otherwise they would probably have died.
2) Airbags are assumed to have killed 60 kid's lives when otherwise they would probably have lived.
So airbags save 16.6 kid's lives for every 1 life they have taken. So with that in mind, airbags should be used with kids. It is just the overreaction of people that make it seem like they are bad. They'd rather have those 1000 kids die so those 60 kids would have stayed alive. Seems dumb, but lawers can and will sue - so they put up warnings encouraging more deaths but fewer lawsuits.

That said, the back seat is still safer.

 

[FoBoT]

Air Bags and Seat Belts Fact Sheet

Infants should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag.
Children ages 12 and under should always be properly restrained in a child safety seat or safety belt and ride in the back seat. Even if there isn't a passenger air bag in the motor vehicle, the safest place for infants and children is properly secured and buckled up in the back seat.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Slickone
Can anyone point me to some reliable info on what age where air bags quit being dangerous and start becoming safe & advantageous for kids?

don't think its age, but weight/height.