A few years ago I met a retired duPont engineer who was telling me about his work at the company over his 40 some years at the company.

One of the projects he spoke of was the auto air bags, specifically the steering wheel air bags and their dangers.

Larry, he said "tell everyone you know especially the women you know not to put their hands on the top of the steering wheel!"  When I asked why he told me that when a airbag deploys with your hands on the top of the wheel your hands go back straight to your face causing face and hand injuries!  You may even loose a hand or fingers if they are inside the wheel when the bag goes off.

After some googling I found that a airbag deploys at about 200 miles per hour with a force of 2000 pounds of force!

This force is also 6 times what the human body can survive if you are too close to the airbag when it goes off!

Here is what the experts say.

1.  Grip the steering wheel at the 10 o'clock 2 o'clock positions or lower

2.  Always sit with your chest at least 12 inches from the wheel.

3.  Never put your hand or fingers near the airbag and dont hit the horn at the onset of a accident.

4.  Children and frail people should not sit in the front of the car, its usually safer in the back

5. ALWAYS wear a seat belt!

6 If you do have a accident and the airbag did not deploy be careful, the airbag may deploy at any moment. 

The government has given the auto makers until 2012 to make th airbags safer, until then please follow the above rules so you and your family can reduce injury or deaths caused by airbags. 

Lets be careful out there!

Larry Hultberg

302-530-9186