Currently, side airbags are generally not considered a risk to children in correctly used child restraints. In fact, children in properly installed and used child restraints should gain a safety benefit from side impact airbags unless otherwise indicated in an owner's manual. A possible risk is to child passengers seated out of position; leaning on the door, face on the window, head sleeping on a pillar, etc. This would be most relevant to children in boosters who are not seated properly, and to children not using any type of seatbelt or restraint. Side curtain airbags should be even less risk, as they are higher and inflate with somewhat less force. In general, it should be OK to place a child in a harnessed carseat (front or rear facing) in a rear seat position with an active side airbag, as long as the owner's manuals for the carseat and vehicle do not prohibit such placement. Automakers have agreed to a rigorous set of testing procedures based on voluntary compliance to standards established in a working group chaired by the IIHS These standards include tests of all types of side airbags with 3yr, 6yr, and 5th percentile female dummies in a variety of normal and extreme seating positions. While these voluntary standards will apply to some model year 2002 and many model year 2003 vehicles, they may not apply to earlier models.
The risk of injury from a side airbag in the front and rear seats is extremely low for properly restrained and positioned adults or children. Children should not lean against the door area where the airbag is stored because the initial deployment force may be harmful. It is important for parents to understand that, with or without an airbag, children leaning against a door or lying down on a seat with their heads near the door or sides of a vehicle are at higher risk of injury in the event of a side impact.
The Side Airbag Out-of-Position Injury Technical Working Group (TWG) was formed because of concerns about potential injuries, particularly to small children who might lie down or assume other positions against a deploying side airbag. The TWG has a test protocol to assure that the inflation injury risk from deploying side airbags remains low. All vehicle manufacturers have committed to follow this protocol when designing new side airbag systems. According to NHTSA's online resource, safercar.gov, 91 percent of vehicles with side airbags conform to these voluntary guidelines.
