[Joed]

If you're like me, the thought of having an airbag blast into your body is frightening. Before reading this, I had been disabling the airbags on the passenger side of my husband's truck (there's no disabling option in my own vehicle), but apparently the risks of not having the airbag is far greater than any additional spinal injury I might incur in the event that the airbag is deployed.

Another site I found a couple of years ago, stated that the presence of hardware in those who have had spinal fusions, etc., actually reduces the risks of further injury, as compared to those without hardware. There are, however, certain medical conditions that are exempted from the use of airbags, namely: any condition that prevents the driver/passenger from sitting behind the airbag properly: severe scoliosis, downs syndrome, and exceptionally short adults.

But from what I've gathered, those of us here with SCI, would be well-advised to be sure that you're at least sitting the proper distance away from the airbag housing.

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Airbag Use Exclusions

What are the medical conditions for which an air bag may be deactivated?

At NHTSA's request, the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine convened an expert panel of physicians to formulate recommendations on specific medical indications for air bag disconnection (deactivation) at the National Conference on Medical Indications for Air Bag Disconnection (July 16-18, 1997, George Washington Medical Center, Washington, DC). The panel consisted of 17 physicians, each nominated by a professional society or organization. The medical conditions considered were provided by NHTSA as the most common concerns expressed by members of the public in regard to disconnection requests.

The panel did not recommend disconnecting bags for pacemakers, supplemental oxygen, eyeglasses, median sternotomy, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, asthma, breast reconstruction, mastectomy, scoliosis (if the person is capable of being positioned properly), previous back or neck surgery, previous facial reconstructive surgery or facial injury, hyperacusis, tinnitus, advanced age, osteogenesis imperfecta, osteoporosis and arthritis (if the person can sit back at a safe distance from the air bag), previous ophthalmologic surgery, Down syndrome and atlantoaxial instability (if the person can reliably sit properly aligned in the front seat), or pregnancy.

The panel did, however, recommend disconnecting an air bag if a safe sitting distance or position cannot be maintained by a:

Driver because of scoliosis or achondroplasia, or

Passenger because of scoliosis or Down syndrome and atlantoaxial instability. The physicians also noted that a passenger air bag might have to be turned off if an infant or child has a medical condition and must ride in front so that he or she can be monitored.

The final rule for airbag deactivation can be viewed at the DOT's docket http://dms.dot.gov/. Search on docket #3111 or for document #NHTSA-1997-3111-1.

Or go directly to the document by clicking on: http://dmses.dot.gov...4/29064_web.pdf

This post has been edited by Joed: 05 March 2006 - 09:19 PM

[Coach]

Joed,

Nice post! I tend to kind of ride the dash some when I travel, in which case it might be best to disconnect the bag. Truth is, though, I don't ride much at all and am sitting back maybe even more often than I lean forward. Still, good info. Thnx.