Understand when the airbag can become a risk factor for your safety

The airbag has been a well-known and mandatory equipment in cars in Brazil since 2014, however, it can become a serious risk in the event of an accident. This is directly related to the fact that, even with more than 12 years of obligation, drivers and passengers do not know how to behave in a vehicle with this safety item.

So should cars go back to being airbag-free? Not at all! It is an extremely important and life-saving piece of equipment. The problem is that Brazilians have not been taught that for this item to protect effectively and not cause injuries, it is necessary to maintain the correct posture.

SEE ALSO:

• External airbags protect vulnerable people in traffic
• When should the driver turn off the passenger airbag?
• There are still a lot of people running with defective airbags in Brazil

When the airbag can hurt you

The airbag deploys in fractions of seconds and with great force, as the bags inflate at a speed that can reach 400 km/h. And in some cases, this impact can cause serious fractures, internal injuries, and even fatalities:

• Objects, accessories or decorative items under the area where the airbag is installed: during the activation of the bags, anything can become a projectile that will be launched at the driver at a very high speed, which can cause serious injuries;
• Personal accessories: items such as barrettes, ‘piranhas’ and rigid objects in the hair can cause serious injuries when the airbag pushes the body backwards against the seat;
• Driving too close to the wheel: it is necessary to have a good distance when activating the airbag, otherwise, at the moment of impact the driver can be hit violently;
• Rest your feet on the dashboard of the car: the passenger must also be at a good distance from the dashboard and with the correct posture, as the risk of serious fractures is very high.

The Minas Gerais Fire Department, in a video on instagram, exemplifies these circumstances and reinforces that airbags are important protective equipment, but they work together with the seat belt and the correct posture in the seat.

This means sitting with your legs down while maintaining a good distance from the steering wheel and dashboard. In the case of the driver, at least 25 cm, and the passenger at least 40 cm.

When to turn off the passenger airbag

In addition to knowing how to behave correctly, it is important to understand when it is necessary to turn off this safety equipment. Despite saving lives, the air bag can hurt a child who is sitting in the front seat, for example.

This happens because the inflated air bag projects the car seat or the car seat onto the seat with great intensity, which can crush or injure the child. The Insurance Institute for Road Safety (IIHS), in the United States, showed the result of an impact test in which the driver should have turned off the passenger airbag to transport a child and did not do so. See what happened to the dummie:

In most cars, the key to turn off the airbag is on the right side of the dashboard, outside the glove compartment, or in the menu of the on-board computer.