Airbag protection in a car crash is a great blessing. Its life-saving function is assured by extreme technical precision. In an emergency, the airbag control system works at lightning speed to inflate the protective airbag and control the belt pretensioner, belt preloader, rollbar and other protective devices. But maximum safety is only assured if the driver and front passenger are sitting in the correct position. Whether an airbag really does save lives in an emergency depends on the correct behaviour of the car's driver and passengers. "Fasten your seat belt" is the golden rule.
# An airbag is certainly not a substitute for a seat belt. Even in car with airbags, always fasten your your seat belt setting off. For instance:if a car first has frontal collision and then impacts another obstacle, the frontal airbag will only open during the first collision and can no longer help during the second. In this case, head and/or side airbags offer additional protection. But your seat belt protects you all the time.

# "Sit correctly - even as a passenger" is another requirement. A distance of at least 30cm is required to ensure ideal airbag protection. The driver's seat should not be placed too close to the steering wheel, while the backrest should not be angled too steeply. This is the only way to ensure that the driver is caught by the airbag when fully inflated and protected optimally in a crash.

# Front-seat passengers should also move their seats as far back as possible, and sit upright. Do not put your feet on the dashboard during the journey. Otherwise, the airbag cannot unfold properly and will only push your legs back (which can cause injury).

# Avoid smoking during your journey. An inflating airbag could push the cigarette into your face. And do not decorate your dashboard with hard objects. The airbag lid bursts off very quickly and could turn these into dangerous projectiles.

# Additional precautions should be taken he your vehicle is also equipped with head/or side airbags in the doors or seat back. Do not lean your head or shoulder against the car door during your journey, since the airbag will not have enough space to inflate and will only push you away instead. Do not use seat covers that also cover the airbags, and do not hang any coat hangers or other hard objects on the clothes hooks.

# If children are in the car special precautions need to be taken. Protect them by using sleep supports or good children's seats that are fitted on the back seat and match the child's size. Never fit a backward-facing ("reboard" children's seat to a seat with an airbag in front. Reboards are catapulted backwards by the inflating airbag along with the child, whic can cause grave injury, if the child faces backwards. Only few luxury cars automatically deactivate the airbag when a reboard is in use - and only if the device has a manufacturer permit and is equipped with an electronic mini-transmitte that sends a command to the airbag electronics.