I'm obliged to Wirecutter for posting this image as #6 in his daily GIF blog post. It shows an airbag going off in front of the passenger seat of a car, with a crash test dummy's legs positioned as I've often seen some passengers ride - with their feet propped up on the dashboard. I routinely see people - particularly adolescent children - doing this when I drive on Interstate and regional highways.
That shows graphically why it's not a good idea to ride like that. As a pastor, there have been two occasions when I had to counsel a family whose daughter put her feet up on the dashboard, only to have them severely injured when an accident occurred and the airbag went off. In one case, the injuries were so severe that she (at 15 years of age) had to have both knees replaced, with who knows what complications that's likely to cause as she grows older.
NOT a good idea! Keep your feet down where they belong!
Peter
8 comments:
You should also avoid bracing yourself against the dash with your hands if you are riding in the front passenger seat for the same reason.
if only her knees got messed up, she was lucky.
most people break the pelvis and hip joints like that
think the after 18 crowd. used to work in the ER and saw a couple of these messes come in. kind of a high price to get a tan on your legs. yes, that is what we where told as to why (?)
Adding to the warning above, keep your hands away from the airbag.
Bloody pictures of one consequence, there are many others.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349845/
My husband gets VERY cranky if he sees foot prints anywhere in a vehicle other than the floor. Mostly because he thinks it's rude to put your feet on the dash or the seats, but it still taught my kids to keep their feet where they belong.
But, but... IT WON'T HAPPEN TO THEM, is always their excuse. Idjits...
Got rear-ended late in June by an idiot looking at his phone and not the road, going about 50 mph....I was at a red light, had my right leg on the brake and fortunately had my left leg pulled up next to the seat. My right leg got jammed up under the dash, broke the tibia right below the knee...two surgeries later I still have another month or so before I can put weight on that leg.
But per the comment above, I never saw it coming and was relaxed when I was hit....glad I didn't see it coming, as I probably would have reflexively braced for impact, and would have two broken arms to go with the leg. There was a car in front of me, and I was pushed into that car hard enough to set off the steering wheel airbag. First and only time that's happened, hopefully will be the last time.....
I dumped a possible girlfriend some decades ago. She got in the car, kicked her shoes off, and plopped her feet on the dash. I asked her not to do that, and she started getting annoyed about it.
I got out, walked to her side of the car, opened the door, and told her to get out of the car. She got out, walked away in a big huff, and I never saw her again.
Many thanks to a government that mandates that we pay extra to install explosive charges in every vehicle rigged to go off on impact. For our safety of course.
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