To assure that you and others are as safe as possible when in your car, we urge you to follow these traffic safety principles:

   1. Always drive as if your life depends on it...because it does!
   2. If you plan to drive, don't drink alcohol.
   3. If you choose to drink alcohol, designate a non-drinker to drive for you.
   4. Wear your seat belt at all times... no matter how short the trip will be.
   5. Make sure others wear their seat belts, including infants/toddlers who should be buckled into child safety seats.
   6. Do not exceed the posted speed limits.
   7. Obey traffic laws at all times.

Air bags are a big success. They've inflated in hundreds of thousands of crashes, saved 1,500+ lives, and prevented many more serious injuries. But like some medications and other public health successes, air bags can cause adverse side effects. Nearly all are minor injuries like bruises and abrasions. They're more than offset by the lives air bags are saving.

But some air bag injuries are serious, and they do include some deaths. These occur when someone gets in the path of an air bag early in its inflation. Infants in rear-facing restraints and unbelted children in the front seats of vehicles with passenger air bags are among those at risk. Because children are lighter than adults, their risk of serious inflation injury is greater.

You can eliminate this risk. Begin by putting children in the back and using appropriate restraints for youngsters' sizes, as required by law in all 50 states.

Starting with a baby's first trip, put the newborn in the safest place in a rear-facing restraint in the back. Make sure the restraint is tightly secured with a safety belt and the child is buckled into the restraint. At first when a baby can't support its head, you may need to put rolled towels or foam inserts around the head to keep it from flopping from side to side.

Remember: It's safer in the back, compared with the front, so the back is always preferred for infants. Conflicts can arise for babies with special medical conditions requiring constant observation. Plus, many parents want to put their new babies in the front seat where they're easier to see. It may be tempting to put a baby up front, right beside the driver, when there's only a driver in the vehicle.

But this isn't recommended.

Parents with babies requiring constant attention should avoid traveling alone with them for two reasons. One is increased crash risk caused by distraction if a driver is constantly paying attention to a baby. The second, very important reason is that, if the vehicle has a passenger air bag, putting an infant's rear-facing restraint up front where it's easier to see also would put it in the path of the bag if it inflates The chances of seriously injuring the baby would be high.

Don't put an infant in a rear-facing restraint in the front of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. Don't do it except for this one condition: If you drive a vehicle with no back seat and a switch that deactivates the passenger bag, you can put the infant restraint up front. Some pickups are the only vehicles now available with switches, and you do have to remember these things: Deactivate the air bag if an infant is in front. Check the air bag's status every trip, and activate it again for older passengers.

Infants grow very quickly, and the restraints toddlers use are different from those for infants. Rear-facing restraints are for babies up to about a year old. When they outgrow their rear-facing restraints, babies can graduate to child seats that face forward. These provide excellent protection when they're used properly and, like infant restraints, should be placed in back instead of the front seat. Some vehicles have built-in child restraints (see list), making them easy to use.

Whether a restraint is built in or not, be sure to secure your child in it according to instructions from both vehicle and restraint manufacturers. This may not be so easy because some vehicles' belt systems, for example, may not be compatible with the restraint you're trying to use. It may be difficult to get the belt tight enough to prevent the restraint from moving excessively. Special clips, available from car dealers, sometimes are needed. Once you get the restraint secured, remember to buckle your child in securely, too.

Soon toddlers become "big kids" who outgrow their child restraints and can use the adult lap/shoulder belts provided in vehicles. Children may need a special booster seat at first. These do just what the name implies. They boost smaller children higher so they fit more comfortably into adult safety belts. Boosters also help kids see out the window.

Once children graduate to adult belts, remember proper use. Don't put a safety belt's shoulder portion behind a child. Don't ever let a child do this, either, because it compromises protection. If necessary, get a booster seat to help fit the shoulder belt comfortably across the child.

The lap belt is equally important. Position it low and snug across a child's hips. Don't let it rise over the abdomen where the belt itself could become a hazard.

Make sure older children, like infants, are positioned so they're likely to be out of the path of a passenger air bag if it inflates. Ideally, this means putting the children in the back. If it's necessary for an older child to ride up front in a vehicle with a passenger air bag, it's essential to adjust the seat so it's as far back as possible. Then remember to secure the child in a properly fitting lap/shoulder belt. Children should also sit back in their seats, not perched on the edge.

Air bags don't have to pose a risk for kids, providing you have knowledge to ensure children aren't positioned so they could be harmed by an inflating bag. Pay attention to this hazard because it's serious, but don't be alarmed.

Remember:

   1. Proper restraint use comes first. Riding unrestrained or improperly restrained in a motor vehicle always has been the greatest hazard for children.
   2. The safest place is the back. This was true before air bags. Now it's doubly true. Infants and children in the back cannot be in the paths of inflating bags.
   3. Find out whether your vehicle, especially if it's a recent model, has a passenger air bag. If it does, then don't use a rear-facing restraint in front. The only exception is if there's no back seat and there's a switch to deactivate the passenger bag.
   4. What's good for kids is good for adults, too, so buckle your own lap/shoulder belt. Restraints keep people in the occupant compartment in crashes and ensure they don't slam into interior surfaces. Another reason to use your belt is to set a good example for your children.

Air bags plus lap/shoulder belts are the best protection for most people, but this system is designed primarily for adults. Younger people need special restraints, and following the simple precautions outlined here can ensure optimum protection for everybody.