Child air bag-related deaths drop 90 percent

By Julie Vallese
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The number of children killed by automobile air bags has plummeted 90 percent in the past five years, according to a report released Thursday.

The study, compiled by the National Safety Council and the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign, credits stronger seat belt laws, better enforcement of those laws and improvement in air bag technology for the decline.

"Clearly the message has gotten through to most parents that children 12 and under should always ride correctly buckled in the back seat," said Chuck Hurley, the campaign's executive director. "It's the combination of education, stronger seat belt and child passenger safety laws, and high-visibility enforcement that has produced the behavior change we see today."

Besides compiling data on air bag-related deaths, the National Safety Council and the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign also conducted a survey of 600 adults who transport children ages 12 and under. The survey said none of the adults driving cars with passenger-side air bags allowed children up to 4 years old to ride in the front seat. Ten percent of the drivers questioned said they allow children aged 5 to 12 to ride in a seat with a passenger-side air bag.

From 1996-2000, 191 people died from air bag-related injuries, including 116 children, according to government statistics. The children were either not wearing a seat belt or were improperly restrained in the front seat.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), meanwhile, estimates air bags have saved more than 7,200 lives from 1996 to the present.

The relative drop in air bag-related deaths comes despite the higher number of cars equipped with dual air bags, according to the study.

In 1996, when there were 22 million vehicles equipped with passenger-side air bags, 26 children were killed by airbags, according to the NHTSA. Two years later, 34 children died when passenger-side air bags increased to 50 million vehicles. But in 2000, fatalities declined to only nine -- even as the number of vehicles with passenger-side air bags rose to more than 80 million.

But Hurley said the drop in fatalities should not diminish the dangers of air bags for children.

"Small children are still being injured or killed because they were seated on the lap of an adult unrestrained in the front seat," he said. "So while the campaign has been successful, our work is not done."