Proceedings of the National Transportation Safety Board Public Forum on Air Bags and Child Passenger Safety

The National Transportation Safety Board convened a 4-day public forum from March 17 to March 20, 1997, to discuss concerns related to the effectiveness of air bags, passenger vulnerability to injuries from air bag deployment, other countries' experience with air bags, and ways to increase seatbelt and child restraint use. The forum identified the need for safety improvements in four areas: a) changing societal attitudes about buckling up; b) better evaluation of seatbelt use rates; c) better air bag design; and d) better evaluation of changes to air bags. Safety recommendations addressing these areas were made to the Governors and legislative leaders of the 50 States and U.S. Territories; the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia; the U.S. Conference of Mayors; the National League of Cities; the National Associations of Counties; National Association of Towns and Townships; members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the domestic and international automobile manufacturers; the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, etc. The proceedings include the transcript of the public forum and information about related safety issues that the Safety Board addressed in its 1996 study, "The Performance and Use of Child Restraint Systems, Seatbelts, and Air Bags for Children in Passenger Vehicles".