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

NTSB Number RP-97/01
NTIS Number PB97-917001
PDF Document (4.2M)

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 Association of Counties; the National Association of Towns and Townships; members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriff’s Association; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the domestic and international automobile manufacturers; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Motion Picture Association of America, the Entertainment Industries Council; the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; the National Cartoonists Society; the Newspaper Association of America; the American Society of Newspaper Editors; and the National Newspaper Association. The proceedings includes 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, ” Volume 1 (NTSB/SS-96/01; PB96-917005).