Children 14 and younger should not sit in the front passenger seat of cars equipped with air bags, according to a new study by an emergency medicine researcher at Oregon Health & Science University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital.
Current federally mandated warning labels in cars only indicate a risk of air bag injuries for children 12 and younger.
The study, "Effects of Child Age and Body Size on Serious Injury From Passenger Air Bag Presence in Motor Vehicle Crashes," will be published in the June 6 edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal Pediatrics.
"Eight years ago, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued its recommendations, they were based on the best information (about air bag safety) available at the time," said Craig Newgard, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of emergency medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine's Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine, and an emergency physician at OHSU and Doernbecher hospitals.
"Those warnings worked in reducing injuries to children. But, as a parent and emergency physician, I felt it was time to study whether more children could be at risk and assess whether age or body size were good measurement guidelines."