GEICO Urges Careful Consideration Before Air Bag Deactivation
18 November 1997
GEICO Urges Careful Consideration Before Air Bag DeactivationDALLAS, Nov. 18 -- Consumers should think more than twice before deactivating air bags, urged one insurance official about today's expected ruling on air bags issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The expected ruling will allow certain vehicle owners to have on-off switches installed which would allow them to deactivate the vehicle's air bags. Consumers would have to meet two conditions: they would have to certify that they read a brochure that spells out air bags' benefits, and that they fall into one or more of the groups safety experts say face higher risk of injury or death from air bags. Upon gaining NHTSA approval, consumers could have the switches installed by a dealer or repair shop. "Not only do air bags help save lives, but they greatly reduce the number and severity of injuries sustained in auto accidents," said Jim Hitt, regional vice president of Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) in Dallas. "Vehicle owners who are considering deactivating their vehicle's air bags should carefully weigh the consequences before proceeding." Air bags have saved more than 2,000 lives to date, and prevented thousands of severe injuries, said Hitt, whose company, GEICO, has reviewed and supported air bag technology for two decades. Studies of the more than 650,000 air bag deployments in recent years credit air bags with a 20 percent reduction in driver fatalities in frontal crashes, a 24 percent reduction in hospital claims resulting from traffic crashes, and a 25-to-29 percent decrease in moderate-to-severe injuries. By reducing fatalities and vehicular injuries, air bags help contain health care expenses and, indirectly, the cost of both government and private insurance programs. Air bag systems operate as supplemental restraint systems to provide additional occupant protection in frontal collisions. For optimal injury prevention, air bags must be used in tandem with the vehicle's safety belts. In a collision, the vehicle rapidly decelerates while its structure absorbs the crash forces. Unbelted occupants continue to move forward at the vehicle's original speed until restraint systems or the interior (windshield, steering wheel, dashboard, etc.) stop them. Occupants buckled up come to a less severe stop by being secured to the vehicle's structure. The air bag system supplements the safety belt's protection by reducing the likelihood that the occupant's head and upper body will strike part of the vehicle's interior such as the steering wheel or windshield. It reduces the risk of serious injury by distributing crash forces more evenly across the occupant's body. "Properly used restraint systems are especially critical for children," said Hitt. "Unfortunately, even today, 40 percent of children are still riding unrestrained in cars, and, of those children who are buckled up, eight out of 10 are restrained incorrectly." Hitt recommends that all children 12-and-under sit in the back seat when traveling in a vehicle, and that all infants under a year old or weighing less than 20 pounds be placed in the back seat in a rear-facing child safety seat, never in the front seat of cars with a passenger-side air bag. An infant-only seat (usually for children ages 1 to 4 and weighing up to 40 pounds) should be replaced when it is outgrown with a forward-facing child safety seat; carefully check the vehicle owner's manual to make absolutely sure the safety seat is properly installed and secured. Children over 4 years old or 40 pounds should be placed in a booster seat, which raises children higher and ensures that the safety belt -- including the shoulder belt -- fits properly. Proper fit means the shoulder belt rests across the chest, not the neck, and the lap belt rides across the hips, not the abdomen where it could cause serious internal or spinal injuries in a crash. To use a shoulder and lap belt properly, a child must be at least 58 inches tall and weigh at least 80 lbs. For adults' safety, Hitt recommends that drivers and front-seat passengers in air bag- equipped cars (particularly shorter people) sit as far back as practical from the air bag module and always wear safety belts. For a free consumer brochure on vehicle occupant protection and air bags, write to GEICO's Air Bag Brochure, GEICO Communications, One GEICO Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20076. Additional information on occupant safety from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety can be found on the Internet at http://www.hwysafety.org. GEICO Corporation is the parent company of Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO General, GEICO Indemnity and GEICO Casualty, which insure private passenger automobiles and provide homeowner and other types of insurance for qualified applicants. SOURCE GEICO