Essay, Research Paper: Airbags

AIRBAGS
By Nathaniel Devine

This paper is discussing the topic of airbags. Now everyone is saying
that "oooohh, airbags are LIFESAVERS," and others reactions are "airbags
are terrible and they're KILLERS." Let's get the facts straight about airbags.

First of all kids under 12 shouldn't ride in the front seat of any car
equipped with airbags. Transport Canada says: the recent death of a 4 year
old boy from Montreal whose neck was broken in a low-paced traffic
accident, the boy was wearing a seatbelt at the time. Airbags and children in
the front seat don't go together, says Dr. Barry Pless of Montreal Children's
Hospital.

Transport Canada said that small children usually push there shoulder
belt behind their backs because they don't like it sweeping across their face,
then the child is only buckled in by the lap portion of the belt. In an accident
this allows the child's upper body to be thrown forward into an exploding
airbag.

3 adults have died in Canada in minor accidents as a result of airbags.
the 3 victims who died were either not wearing their seatbelts properly or
they were sitting to close to the dashboard. The little 4 year old boy who died
was the first child death in Canada due to airbags, Harry Leyden of the
transport department said; "we want to make sure that it doesn't happen
again."

Even when children sit in carseats and the carseat is turned backward
they are still very vulnerable. "The safest place for a child under 12 is in the
back seat," says Leyden.

In the US 21 children have died due to airbags.








"15 fatal car crashes involving airbags have resulted in the deaths of 4
children," says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The
AAA says that 39 million people do not know where to put a child's safety
seat in relation to an airbag.












Dr. Barry Pless was one of the first people to think of the idea of rear facing
car seats on the passenger side. Now it will be mandatory for car makers to
put warning labels including where to place child seat in vehicles equipped
with airbags,

Kids should always wear seatbelts so they don't slip off the front of
there seat in a car crash, You should make it a harsh family rule that all
people in your car wear seatbelts. By the year 1999 all cars and trucks will
have driver and passenger side airbags. One possible solution to stopping
deaths by airbags is slowing down the rate at which the airbag inflates,

Airbags are designed to protect the face, neck, head and chest area
during frontal or backward crashes. Chemical burns to the hand and face may
occur. The airbag inflates between 20 & 30 milliseconds.

According to Herb Shulinder and other resources the Volvo (all
models) is the best car for high-paced accidents because all the new models
have side door airbags. Just ask Linda Dugger who's life was saved on US
highway 75 near Texas thanks to side impact airbags. BMW and Mercedes-
Benz plan on putting side impact airbags in all their cars by 1999.




















Car makers and the government are looking at ways to make airbags
safer. Until then, they're warning drivers to buckle up and sit back.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS: ALWAYS BUCKLE UP, DON'T SIT TO
CLOSE TO THE DASHBOARD, AND KIDS IN THE FRONT SEAT AND
AIRBAGS DON'T MIX!

One can conclude that:
1) Kids under 12 and airbags DON'T MIX!
2) In your family you should make sure that it's a harsh rule that everyone
wears a seatbelt, and if you have little ones make sure they don't push the top
portion of the belt behind them!
3) Never sit to close to the dashboard.

Are airbags lifesavers or killers, hopefully we'll soon find out.