Dear Friends,

Since 1996 it became apparent that children aged 12 and younger, can be injured or killed by the force of a motor vehicle's passenger side air bag.

In 1997 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a final rule requiring warning labels on all new passenger vehicles stating that children 12 and under can be killed by the air bags.

However new data that occurred from research at the University of California, shows that actually kids are at risk of death when sitting at the front row because of the air bag till the age of 14.

These findings may well influence for a change in the actual recommendations and requiring that if a child is 14 years old or younger should not sit in a front passenger seat equipped with an air bag.

However children 15 to 18 years of age seem to experience protective effects of air bag presence and deployment.

Age may be a better marker than height or weight for risk assessment regarding children and air bags.

The issue of children protection from injuries is huge. We should not forget that accidents in general are by far the most frequent cause of injury and deaths and cause more fatalities than any disease.

Having this in mind we are attaching with our 29th monthly Progressive Newsletter an article about Protection of children in the car that we believe you will find interesting.

We are sure that you will find useful additional information and that this will help in the prevention of unfortunate traffic related accidents.

Takis A. Haggiandreou
Director

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The risk for children sitting in the front row in case of collision is very high. There are 30% less fatal injuries in children that are placed at the back seats. The special booster seats that have to be used adjusted to the age of the child, decrease the risk of death in case of accidents in children of preschool or school age.

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