When placing your child in the car, it’s crucial that they go in the correct seat. But it is equally as important to ensure the air bag is not going to result in injury – or death.
According to motor experts The AA, the back seat is often the safest place for your child. This is because “the most common crash involves an impact to the front of your car”.
In fact, it says that the “centre-rear seat is the safest place of all for a properly restrained child, because they’re furthest away from any impact and less likely to hit or be hit by deforming, intruding structures”.
It’s further stressed that if it’s only you and your child in the car, it might be more reassuring and distract you less if they are in the front with you. However, if they’re in a rear-facing seat, “you’ll have to use it in the rear if the front passenger seat is protected by an airbag that can’t be switched off.”
They warn: “An active airbag will cause severe injury or death to a child lying with its head so close if it fires in an accident.”
If you want your child to be forward-facing, make sure you check your car handbook for advice. In general, the motoring experts say they would “recommend moving the car passenger seat well back on its runners to increase the distance between your child and the airbag”.
According to BabyCentre, airbags deploy so fast that the risk is “clear” once you realise how fast it goes. It cautions: “An airbag inflates almost instantly, in as little as 20 milliseconds, after a crash.
“The thin nylon airbag gets an immediate injection of hot nitrogen gas, which makes it expand so quickly that it forces it out from the dashboard at about 160 mph (257 km/h). So, it poses a clear risk to a baby in a rear-facing seat, who is directly in the airbag’s line of fire.”
Should my kid be using a child car seat or booster seat?
As stated by the UK Government on their official GOV.UK website, children will often use a child car seat until they’re 12 years old or 135 centimetres tall, whichever comes first.
It adds: “Children over 12 or more than 135cm tall must wear a seat belt. You can choose a child car seat based on your child’s height or weight.”
It is really crucial to note that “only EU-approved height-based child car seats can be used in the UK. These have a label showing a capital ‘E’ in a circle and ‘R129’”. You can read up more about the rules here.