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U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
December 16, 1996
Dear Owner:
The air bags in your vehicle can save your life in a frontal crash. But
they also can seriously hurt or kill someone who is too close to the air
bag when it inflates, especially infants in rear-facing child seats or
unrestrained children. This letter provides important information about air
bag safety to help you avoid the risk of injury.
Overall, air bags are working well and have reduced driver fatalities in
head-on crashes by 30 percent. They are credited with saving more than
1,600 lives since late 1983 when they began appearing in the U.S. fleet. To
do this, air bags must inflate very quickly - faster than the blink of an
eye.
To avoid injury from an inflating air bag, here are the simple rules you
should follow on every trip:
- Always place children 12 years and under in the rear seat (and make
sure they are properly restrained).
- Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front seat if the vehicle is
equipped with a passenger-side air bag.
- Always move both driver and passenger seats as far back from the
air bag as practical.
- Always buckle up properly - lap and shoulder belts for adults, and
child restraints, booster seats, or lap and shoulder belts as appropriate
for the size and age of the child.
We recommend that you print and place this letter in your glove box for
subsequent owners or as a reminder to you.
For more information on air bag safety, please consult your vehicle owner's
manual or call NHTSA's toll-free Auto Safety Hotline at 1-800-424-9393, or
visit our web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
Sincerely,
Ricardo Martinez, M.D.
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