Seat Belt laws in the US

[flojocoe2001]

Barb wrote:

>I have to be very careful of cars 
> with passenger-side airbags, though, since I'm just under 5'4" and 
> for women my size and for children and babies in car seats, these 
> air-bags deploying have sometimes resulted in fatalities ( from 
> broken necks).  I don't know why they can't design them to inflate 
> less violently, but if there is a passenger-side airbag, I'm happy 
> to sit in the back seat...
> 

I learned about this in my days of airbag defense work.  If you're an 
adult seated on the passenger side and are belted, the passenger side 
airbag is not much of a threat.  In the media hysteria about airbag 
risks, little attention was paid to the fact that the overwhelming 
majority of adults injured or killed by airbags were simply not 
belted.  If you're not belted, you'll move toward the bag at 35 mph 
while the bag is moving toward you at over 100 mph.  That's bad.

If you belt yourself up front and move your seat as far back as it 
will go, you'll be just fine up front on the passenger side.  The 
issues on the driver's side are different, so I won't get into them.  
The rules are different for kids, of course.  (But the back seat is 
the safest for everyone, as you mentioned).

Cindy (also 5'4" and proud of it)