Airbag switches often aren't switched on or off for best protection

Drivers of pickups with on/off switches for the frontal airbags on the passenger side and with children ages 1 to 12 riding in the front seat are only turning the airbags off about half of the time. This is the main finding of a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Drivers with infants in rear-facing child restraints turned off the passenger airbags most frequently- about 86 percent of the time. On the other hand, passenger airbags were turned off for about 17 percent of the adult passengers surveyed, affording them no safety benefit from the airbags in the event of a crash. NHTSA recommends turning off passenger airbags whenever a child 12 or younger rides in the front seat because of the risk of inflation injuries caused by the deploying airbags. Passenger airbags should be turned on whenever someone 13 or older rides in the front passenger seat.