Knowing When Not to Drive

Personal Concerns:

Fatigue

Fatigue is lack of energy to function normally because of excessive motivation or energy and the usual symptoms of  fatigue is drowsiness or   exhaustion.  Fatigue is a normal result of working, mental stress, over stimulation and under stimulation, jet lag or active recreation, depression, and also boredom, disease and lack of sleep.  Our body naturally wants to sleep at nights. If you are sleepy and less alert, the safest reaction is to get off the road and get some rest.

Health and Emotions

Stress and strong emotions take your focus off driving task and leave you unprepared to drive. When under severe stress, don’t drive. If you hear news that may impact your emotional awareness, don’t drive. You are likely to be thinking about your new news and decisions made around the news than focusing on the driving conditions. If you find yourself emotionally agitated positively or in a negative way, wait until the feelings subside before putting the key in the ignition. Use all of your good judgment, common sense, and courtesy when you drive with full awareness.

Conditions Physicians Must Report

If your physician believes that you have certain medical conditions that may affect your driving abilities; she/he may report your condition to the DMV. However, physicians and surgeons are required to report their patients that are at least 14 year of age that are diagnosed with lapses of consciousness, Alzheimer’s disease, or similar disorders to DMV (California Health & Safety code, 103900)

Good Vision for All Drivers

In California, anyone who applies for an original or renewal driver license must pass a DMV- administered visual acuity screening. You need an acceptable vision to drive safely. Your vision needs to be 20/40 with both eyes tested together and 20/40 in one eye and 20/70, at least, the other eye.

If you don’t have a good vision, you will not be able to distinguish distances. Everyone, but especially drivers, should get regular eye examinations-at least once every year or two. If you need corrective lenses, you can get the prescription updated (as needed) at that time. You may not realize that you’ve lost peripheral vision or distance judgment unless you have your eyes checked by a healthcare professional. Through your annual eye examination your doctor will be able to detect any eye diseases which may be treated simply and effectively in advance.

Medications/alcohol level

Taking more than one drug at the same time can be especially dangerous because each can add to the impact of the other. This is called the synergistic effect.
Taking just one drug can reduce your driving ability. Taking several together magnifies the effect of each of the individual drugs, resulting in unpredictable behavior.
If you mix alcohol with other drugs, the potential side effects become magnified and unpredictable. The combination results in effects much different than normal intoxication. So be sure not to mix prescription or psychiatric drugs with alcohol. Not only do you risk making yourself physically sic, the mixture of drugs and alcohol can have a severe impact on your coordination skills, consequently impeding your ability to drive.

Drinking and Driving

Researchers estimate that between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. one out of every ten drivers is intoxicated. More than one-third of these drivers have been drinking at someone else’s home. Nearly 50 percent of the drivers arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) are social to moderate drinkers. Don’t think that it won’t happen to you. In your lifetime, there’s a 50-50 chance that you’ll be involved in an alcohol-related collision.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI): Legally, you are considered to be driving under the influence if your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is 0.08 percent or higher if you are over the age of 21. If your driving is impaired, you can be convicted of driving under the influence with blood alcohol content lower than 0.08 percent.

Don’t Be Fooled — The Facts Are:

• Drinking 12-ounces of beer, a five-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5 oz. shot of liquor all have approximately the same amount of alcohol in them.
• Alcohol concentration in the body depends on the amount of alcohol consumed, your body weight, and time spent drinking.
• The only thing that can decrease intoxication is time – wait it off (contrary to popular belief, although water and coffee may help some, time best decreases the effects of intoxication).
• Over one-third of all fatal crashes in California in the year 2008 involved drunk drivers.
• You should never combine drugs with alcohol.
• Both legal and illegal drugs reduce your ability to drive safely! It isn’t just the illegal stuff!

Exterior Concerns:

• Conditions are beyond driving ability (self-regulating driver)
• Vehicle requirements
• Driver license/vehicle registration/liability insurance is not valid or current.

Declaration Requirement on Original or Renewal Application for Driver’s License:

All persons are required as a condition of obtaining or renewing a driver’s license to sign a declaration acknowledging that a driver may be charged with murder if a person is killed as a result of driving under the influence.

Insurance Requirements

We covered importance of insurance in the previous chapter. However, this section can be a reiteration of this factor. The law states that you must be financially responsible for your actions whenever you drive and for all the motor vehicles you own. You can even lower this expense by only having a liability insurance policy as proof of financial responsibility. Make sure you are insured according to the requirements; you do not want your driver license to be suspended. If the driver is not identified, the owner of the motor vehicle involved in a collision will have his or her driver license suspended.

Below is a list of minimum amounts of insurance coverage:

• $15,000 for a single death or injury.
• $30,000 for death or injury to more than one person.
• $30,000 for death or injury to more than one person.

If you are visiting California or have just moved here, realize that many out-of –state insurance companies are not authorized to do business in the state. Check with your company before driving in California. When you make California your primary home or accept a permanent job here, you must get a California driver’s license within 10 days.

If you have a collision in California, you need to meet these three conditions to avoid suspension of your driving privilege:

• Your liability policy must provide bodily injury and property damage coverage which equals or exceeds the required limits stated above.
• Your insurance company must file a power of attorney allowing the DMV to act as its agent for legal service in California.
• You must insure the vehicle before you come to California. You cannot renew the out-of state policy, once the vehicle is registered in California.

Collisions on Your Record

File necessary supplemental reports in addition to the collision report with the DMV. Also make sure you report the incident to your insurance company as well as the police if they were not at the scene of the collision.

Under California law, if you’re involved in a collision that results in over $750.00 damage to any one person, or any injury or fatality, a report needs to be filed with the DMV within 10 days of the collision. If you fail to file your report, your diving privilege may be suspended for up to four years.

Collisions, Insurance, and Minors

If you are under 18 years of age, your parent(s) or guardian(s) must assume financial responsibility for your driving by signing your driver license application and once you reach age 18, your parent(s) or guardian(s) liability automatically ends

If you are involved in a collision, your parent(s) or guardian(s) may be liable for civil damages and you may also be fined.

EXCEPTION: Your parent(s) or guardian(s) can have your driver license cancelled at any time while you are a minor.

VEHICLE CODE SECTIONS

What it means to have your license canceled, revoked, or suspended:

The State has several options when it comes to taking action against your driving privilege:
“Cancellation” means that a driver’s license certificate is ended without preconception and must be surrendered. Any person whose license has been canceled may immediately apply for a license. Cancellation of license may be made only when specifically authorized in this code, when application is made for a license to operate vehicles of a higher class, or when a license has been issued through error or voluntarily surrendered to the department.

“Revocation” means that the person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been terminated, usually as the result of a very serious offense, such as:

• Violates terms of his or her probation for a fourth time
• Is convicted of reckless driving that injures another
• is convicted of a hit-and-run, or
• Fails to meet suspension requirements

A revocation is the permanent withdrawal of a driver’s license. If a person wants to drive again, he or she first has to make good on any issues related to the reason for the revocation, and then start the whole process of acquiring a new license, including taking a new test.

“Suspension” means that the person’s privilege to drive a motor vehicle is temporarily withdrawn either by a judge as part of some criminal penalty, or by the DMV. A Court will instruct the DMV to suspend the license of any driver who is guilty of DUI or of accumulating too many negligent driver points. The DMV may suspend the person’s license for six months or place them on probation or revoke their driving privilege. Any person so penalized is entitled to a hearing if requested within 10 days of receiving the suspension or revocation order.

Okay, okay…Let’s now discuss the spirit of the law!

Your License and the Law

Whenever you drive, you must carry your driver’s license with you. Any misuse of your driver’s license is a misdemeanor. You could be fined, sentenced to jail, or your license may be suspended.

Communication

Suspension or Revocation of Licenses: Don’t Let This Happen to You

If your license is suspended or revoked, the following Vehicle Code applies to you – hopefully after you’ve successfully taken and passed this traffic course, you will learn the importance of obtaining and keeping a driver’s license and driving more carefully. You don’t ever want your DL to become suspended or revoked – it’s not a good thing. Remember driving is a privilege, not a right.

If you are a California Resident and drive a motor vehicle on a public highway or in a parking facility open to the public, you must have a California driver license.

Also communicating with the other drivers is essential to you, but how do you do that:

• Lights and signals
• Horn
• Hand Signals
  • Left turn-Left hand and arm extended horizontally beyond the side of the vehicle.
  • Right Turn: Left hand and arm extended upward beyond the side of the vehicle.
  • Slow or Stop: Left hand and arm extended downward beyond the side of the vehicle.
• Eye Contact

Courtesy

Right-of-way rules, together with courtesy and common sense, help to promote traffic safety. It is important to respect the right-of-way of others, especially Fs, motorcycle riders, and bicycle riders. Never assume other drivers will give you the right-of-way. Yield your right-of-way when it helps to prevent collisions. Don’t forget, you are not alone on the road. Courtesy is an attitude of cooperation and politeness toward other users. The first and most important thing that courtesy does is to stop a difficult situation from turning into an angry confrontation. Such a scene is bad for everyone. And, in the service of self-interest, courtesy can improve your situation by helping to sort out the problem more quickly. If traffic is slowed by drivers attempting to merge into your lane, for instance, allowing another driver to merge smoothly and easily into the space in front of you will ultimately get things moving more efficiently. Being courteous, it turns out, is always a win-win proposition for everyone.

Knowing and Correctly Applying Rules of the Road

Respecting the right-of-way of others is not limited to situations such as yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, or watching carefully to ensure the right-of-way of bicyclists and motorcyclists. Motorists must respect the right-of-way of others by not violating traffic laws, such as failing to stop at a stop sign or traffic light, speeding, making unsafe lane changes, or illegal turns. Statistics show that right-of-way violations cause a high percentage of injury collisions in California.

Signaling

Always signal when turning left or right, changing lanes, slowing down, or stopping; it lets other drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians know your intentions.
Signals may be given by hand-and-arm positions or by using the vehicle’s signal lights. If bright sunlight makes the signal lights hard to see, also use hand-and-arm signals.

• LEFT TURN

  

• RIGHT TURN

  

• SLOW OR STOP

  

Motorcyclists often use hand signals to make themselves more visible. Bicyclists may give right turn-signals with their right arm held straight out, pointing right.

Signal:

• Always signal when changing lanes, pulling into or away from a curb, or making any directional change, even if no one else seems to be around
• If you plan to turn beyond an intersection, start signaling when you are in the intersection. If you signal too early, the other driver may think you plan to turn into the intersection and he or she may pull out in front of you.
• When signaling, check over your left or right shoulder to make sure that no one is in your blind spot.
• Turn signals should flash yellow or white at the front of a vehicle and flash red or amber at the rear. Side-mounted turn-signal lamps that flash amber are also allowed on each side of a vehicle; side-mounted turn-signal lamps may be red at the rear of the vehicle.
• Finally, on the bright days, turn signals may not be very visible, especially on older model vehicles with small turn-signal lamps. You should supplement these lamps with hand-and-arm signals that were covered previously.
• Remember to cancel your signal after turning.

Steering

Regular maintenance check-up can help detecting a problem with the power steering system. However, you might also lose power steering if the engine stops running. You can continue to drive without power-assisted steering, but remember that you will need to use considerably more effort than usual to turn the steering wheel!

Total Steering Failure:

This is a very dangerous situation to be in, but thankfully, extremely rare. Activate your flashers and use your horn as necessary to warn other drivers. Stop the vehicle as quickly and safely as possible, trying whatever you can to get the vehicle to the side of the roadway. Because you have lost directional control, however, it is likely that the vehicle will be stopped in traffic lanes. In this case, it is best to get out of the vehicle and move to a safe place on the side of the roadway. Of course, if traffic is heavy, trying to leave your vehicle would pose a danger; stay in the vehicle with the seat belt on and call for help.

Identifying and responding to hazards

Driving Hazards:

Drivers are in control of heavy machinery. As such, they are responsible for identifying hazards in the roadway and responding appropriately. Defensive drivers, who are adept at identifying and responding to hazards, generally look ahead in traffic, take in the entire, scene, and anticipate where problems will occur.

Water on the Road:

Slow down immediately when you are confronted with water on the road. A vehicle with properly inflated tires having good tread can begin to hydroplane at 50 mph when there is as little as 1/12” of an inch of rain on the roadway. The water is pushed up in front of the tires faster than they can move it aside. The tires lose contact with the road and start riding on the water. Hydroplaning is the result of your tires moving FAST across a wet surface-so fast that they do not have sufficient time to channel that moisture away from the center of the tire. The result is that the tire is lifted by the water away from the road and all traction is thus lost. This results in zero traction and steering ability. A strong gust of wind or attempt to steer can send the vehicle into a skid.

Slippery Roads:

Slow down at the first sign of rain, especially after a dry spell. Rain after a dry spell is most dangerous, because oil and dust have not been washed away yet. A slippery road will not give your tires the control they need. Drive slower than you would on a dry road. Adjust your speed as follows:

• Wet road–go five–ten miles slower.
• Packed snow–go five–ten miles slower.
• Ice–slow to a crawl.

Skids on Slippery Surfaces

A road that is normally safe can become dangerous when it is slippery. Ice and packed snow on the road can be the cause of your vehicle skidding, especially if you are driving too fast or going downhill. If you start to skid:

• Avoid braking suddenly-pump brakes lightly but fast.
• Steer in the direction the rear end is skidding.
• Avoid over steering
• Keep the clutch engaged and avoid suddenly lifting your foot from the accelerator.

Child Endangerment

Children in general, but especially those at very young ages, may lack the experience or intellectual capacity to appreciate the sheer power that automobiles possess. They don’t take care, so you must! Drivers are responsible for protecting young children from the danger that motor vehicles can present.

Checking around vehicle prior to entering and leaving:

Drivers should check around the vehicle before climbing behind the wheel. Children often play around vehicles, and adults may not be aware of their presence. It’s especially difficult when children are on the ground or under the vehicle, exactly those areas where they will remain undetected without some effort by the driver. To avoid needless tragedy, check around the vehicle to ensure that all is clear before your start out.

Unattended Children in Motor Vehicles:

It is illegal to leave a child six years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle. Be aware if:

• Weather conditions or other conditions present a significant risk to the child’s health or safety. Example: Leaving a child in a closed vehicle on a very hot day
• The vehicle’s engine is running, keys are in the ignition, or both. Children may start or move the vehicle causing injuries and/or deaths to themselves or others.

Releasing brake/shifting to neutral:

This is a very dangerous action with children in the vehicle are left unsupervised. Children are curious and when left alone, they like to explore their surrounding and releasing brake by shifting to neutral are very common which risks the lives of the children in the car and the pedestrians and drivers around them.
Properly securing children in vehicle as well as heavy items.

Child Restraint System and Safety Seats:

Requires that a child who is required to be secured in a child safety seat (under 8 years and less than 4’9” tall), be secured in the rear seat of the vehicle.
A child is allowed to be secured in the front seat of the vehicle if:

• There is no rear seat
• The rear seats are side-facing jump seats
• The child passenger restraint system cannot be installed properly in the rear seat
• The rear seats are rear-facing seats
• All rear seats are already occupied by children under the age of 7 years
• In case of a life-threatening emergency or when a child is being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle
• A medical reason requires the child to ride in the front seat

A child may not ride in the front seat of an airbag-equipped vehicle with a passenger air bag if they are under one year of age, weigh less than 20 pounds, or are riding in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system. (These provisions became effective on January 1, 2012).

Poor driving conditions
(Such as downpour, slippery roads, etc)

Hot Weather Risks

As stated in the “Unattended Children in Motor Vehicles” section, it is against the law to leave unattended minor children in a vehicle. Additionally, and equally important, it is dangerous and deadly to leave children and/ or animals in a hot vehicle. After sitting in the sun, with even a slightly opened window, the temperature can rise rapidly inside a parked vehicle. The temperature inside a vehicle can rise approximately 40-50 degrees higher than the outside temperature.

Dehydration, heat stroke, and death can result from overexposure to the heat. Remember if it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for children and pets.

What Is the Road Condition?

The faster your speed, the less control you have of your vehicle. Rather than driving at the legal posted speed limit, consider adjusting you driving speed for road conditions or whatever affects the safe operation of your vehicle. For example, should you drive 35 mph (the posted speed limit) on a curve down an icy mountain road? Many inexperienced drivers do not adjust their driving speed for the road conditions; that causes them to have more “out-of-control” collisions than experienced drivers.

Driving in the Fog

The best choice to make when there is fog is NOT to drive. However, sometimes you must drive. When this is the case, you must maximize your visibility and reduce the glare so you can see where you are going. Always use your low beam headlights when driving in fog. Also, use your windshield wipers and defroster to remove moisture from the windshield, condensation on the inside, and ice or front on the outside of the windshield.

In addition to turning your fog and parking lights on you need to:

• Reduce speed, but keep moving when entering a fog bank
• Watch for slow-moving vehicles ahead
• Look in the rear-view mirror every two to five seconds for vehicles approaching from the rear
• If the fog is so thick that you can’t see far enough ahead to drive safely, you should:

Signal and move off the roadway when the traffic allows until the fog lifts. After you’ve pulled off the road and have come ta complete stop, turn off your lights and keep your foot off of the brake pedal. Otherwise, another driver may see your taillights or brake lights and assume you are moving (when actually you’re completely stopped), and ram into your vehicle as a result.

Driving in Darkness

Driving at nights requires more attention since you don’t have a full view of your surroundings. Some open highways are not equipped with streetlights. When other vehicles are not close by, drive with your high beams on. When you approach an oncoming vehicle, dim your lights before the vehicle comes within 500 feet of you. To retain your own vision, do not look at the vehicle’s headlights; loot at the right side of the road. When you approach another vehicle from behind, dim your lights before you get closer than 300 feet. Do not drive using only your parking lights.

Driving in Rain or Snow

As with fog and rain, you must maximize your visibility when driving in snow or in icy conditions. Use your low beam headlights so they do not reflect back into your eyes.
In California, you are legally required to use your headlight during inclement weather, or any weather condition that requires continuous use of your windshield wipers.
Use your windshield wipers and defroster to remove film and dirt from the windshield, and to help melt or clear snow and ice. The defroster will also help eliminate any moisture that mists up the inside of your windshield.

Driving in Hill Country or Curves

Hills present some unavoidable problems while driving. If you use lower gears on steep hills, you will be one step ahead of the main problem. While traveling uphill, lower gears will give you more power to prevent losing speed or taxing the engine. Going downhill, lower gears will help control the vehicle’s speed while simultaneously preventing the brakes from overheating. Watch downhill speeds, especially on roadways where you can’t see far enough ahead. Never drive downhill in neutral, as it is not only illegal but also dangerous.

Curves in the road require a slower driving speed and more caution. You may not see a hazard on the other side of the ben. If you slow down when entering a curve, you give yourself enough time to stop before hitting a potential hazard. It is better to slow down gradually than to brake suddenly! Road workers, closed lanes, animals, slow-moving and stalled vehicles, steep hills, blind curves, and weather-related conditions are just some of the hazards you may encounter. Don’t be lulled by the scenery and long roads into a completely relaxed frame of mind-stay alert!

Rights and Duties

Right of Way Rules

Right-of-way rules, together with courtesy and common sense, help to promote traffic safely. It is important to respect the right-of-way of others, especially pedestrians, motorcycle riders, and bicycle riders. Never assume other drivers will give you the right-of-way. If necessary, wait for traffic breaks (A traffic break is generally created by law enforcement vehicles to slow or stop the flow of traffic along a road or highway for emergency situations)-even if you are legally-entitled to the right-of-way.

When to Use the Right-of-way: Use your right in a business-like fashion, as others expects you to proceed so they can also move on. A driver who lawfully has the right-of-way may yield to others in order to avoid a collision, but they do not have the right-of-way also.

When to give up the right-of-way: If a driver “jumps the line” and moves ahead of his or her turn without yielding when it is your right-of-way, don’t contest the move or let it upset you. No collision is worth the aggravation.

Right-of-way violations: Respecting the right-of-way of others is not limited to situations such as yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, or watching carefully to ensure the right-of-way of bicyclists and motorcyclists. Motorists must respect the right-of-way of others by not violating traffic laws, such as failing to stop at a stop sign or traffic light, speeding, making unsafe lane changes, or illegal turns. Statistics show that right-of-way violations cause a high percentage of injury collisions in California.

Risk Taking

What does it mean to take a risk? It means to jeopardize. Do you want to risk your life and those in the vehicle with you and possibly other drivers on the road? I don’t think you do. At least I hope you don’t. In this section we will learn what it means to take risk while driving, the consequences of those risks and most importantly, how not to take those risks while on the road. A vehicle is a deadly weapon. Taking a risk could mean ending your life and/or the lives of others.

Cell Phones

A cellular telephone is a very helpful tool for drivers to call for help, report dangerous road conditions or to summon police. However, driving while talking on the telephone can be dangerous to you and other motorists. Cell phones can be a serious source of driver inattention because a phone conversation can impair your ability to perceive gaps in traffic or changing conditions. To use a cell phone more safely, get to know your type of phone and its features, keep it within easy reach, and suspend calls when in hazardous or heavy traffic or in bad weather. Place calls when you are not moving or before pulling into traffic.

Effective July 1, 2008 new cell phone laws (CVC 23123 and 23124):

• Prohibit persons under the age of 18 from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or a mobile service device. This prohibition includes telephones equipped with a hand-free device.
• Prohibit persons 18 and older from driving a motor vehicle while using a hand-held cellular telephone unless that telephone permits hands-free operation.

Emergency exception

The law permits a driver, regardless of age, to use a wireless telephone for emergency purposes,

Including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.

Additionally, the law enforcement officers are prohibited from stopping a driver they think may be under 18 years of age for the sole purpose of determining whether they are using a phone with a hands free device.

Penalties

Violating these new laws is an infraction. A violator is subject to a base fine of $20 for the first offense and not more than $50 for each subsequent offense. A negligent operator point will not be assigned to a driver found guilty of a cell phone usage violation.

Yes, Wearing Your Safety Belt Reduces Your Risks!

Use your safety belt. Wear the safety belt even if the vehicle is equipped with air bags. Pregnant women should wear the safety belt as low as possible under the abdomen and the shoulder strap between the breasts and to the side of the abdomen’s bulge.

The National Center for Statistics and Analysis recorded 2,023 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in the year 2008 in the state of California. Of the 2,023 fatalities, 566 people were killed and were not wearing a safety belt – in other words, the 1,457 people who wore a restraint, lived. Seventy two percent of those who wore a restraint in fatal crashes lived! Safety belts can save lives

Myths about Safety Belts

• Safety belts can trap you inside a car
• Safety belts are good on long trips only
• Some people are thrown clear in a crash and walk away with hardly a scratch
• Safety belts often causes collisions because they’re so uncomfortable

Car crashes are the number 1 preventable cause of death for children. Buckle them up in an approved safety seat. It’s worth it, and the law requires that you do.

Senate Bill 7. Author: Oropeza
Health and Safety Code 118947

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Marco Firebaugh Memorial Children’s Health and Safety Act of 2007

Summary: As of January 1, 2008, this bill makes it an infraction for a person to smoke a cigarette, pipe, or cigar in a motor vehicle when a minor is present in the vehicle. The law applies whether the vehicle is at rest or in motion, is secondary enforcement and punishable by a fine not exceeding $100. A law enforcement officer shall not stop a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is in violation of this article.

Airbags Can Save Lives

According to NHTSA – How can most people ride safely with air bags? Most people can take steps that will eliminate or at least significantly reduce any risk without turning off air bags and losing their protection. The main source of risk is proximity; an air bag needs space to inflate

Move your seat rearward, and tilt your seat back – as a driver, you should ride at least 10 inches (measured from the center of the steering wheel to your breastbone) from the air bag cover if you can do this while maintaining full control of your vehicle. Passengers also need to sit at least 10 inches back from the air bag.

Wear your seat belt, and remove any excess slack in the belt. Insist that children 12-years-old and younger ride in the back seat. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in front of an air bag.

Who is at risk from air bags? Very few people. Almost everyone is safer with an air bag than without one. There is a serious risk only if you are very close to the air bag cover (within 2-3 inches) when the air bag deploys.

On the driver side, if you are one of the relatively few people unable to get back at least 10 inches from the air bag cover (measured from the center of the steering wheel center to your breastbone), you may be a candidate for an on-off switch. At progressively shorter distances, the chance of being saved by an air bag decreases and the chance of being injured by it increases. The distance below 10 inches at which you might consider getting an on-off switch varies from vehicle model to vehicle model, because the risk is affected by differences in the design and performance of different air bags and crash sensors. The vast majority of people who currently sit less than 10 inches from the steering wheel can achieve that distance by moving their seat to the rear as far as possible (while still being able to comfortably drive the vehicle) and/or tilting the seat back slightly. If you cannot maintain at least a 10-inch distance from the air bag, despite your best efforts, you may wish to to contact your dealer or vehicle manufacturer for advice about additional ways of moving back from your air bag.If you still are unable to come close to achieving the 10-inch distance, you may wish to consider getting an on-off switch. Since air bag performance varies among vehicle models, you may wish to consult your vehicle manufacturer for additional advice. . If you do get an on-off switch, leave the air bag turned on for all drivers who can get back at least 10 inches.

If you are a driver with a medical condition, you should only turn off your air bag if you have been advised by a physician that an air bag poses a special risk to you and this risk outweighs the increased risk that your head, neck or chest will hit the steering wheel or dashboard in a crash if your air bag is turned off. Hitting these components can occur even if you are using your seat belt. At the recent National Conference on Medical Indications for Air Bag Deactivation, a group of physicians considered all medical conditions commonly cited in letters to NHTSA as possible justifications for turning off air bags. The physicians did not recommend turning off air bags for many relatively common medical conditions, such as pacemakers, eyeglasses, angina, emphysema, asthma, breast reconstruction, mastectomy, previous back or neck surgery, hyperacusis, tinnitus, advanced age, osteoporosis and arthritis (if the person can sit at a safe distance from the air bag), or pregnancy. The physicians recommended turning off an air bag if a safe sitting distance or position cannot be maintained by a driver because of scoliosis or achondroplasia or by a 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. To obtain a copy of the recommendations, call the NHTSA Hotline or see the NHTSA web site. Older drivers should follow the advice given above for all drivers.

On the passenger side, all children up through age 12 belong in the back seat. But, if you must place a rear-facing infant seat in front of an air bag, get an on-off switch and turn the air bag off. Never place a rear-facing infant seat in front of an activated air bag.
If children 12 years and younger must sit in the front seat, first ensure that they use seat belts and/or child restraints appropriate for their size or weight. Then, move their vehicle seat all the way back. If these steps are taken, the risk of injury from the air bag will be substantially reduced. However, since children sometimes lean far forward or slip out of their shoulder belt, placing themselves in danger, you may wish to consider getting a switch and turning off the air bag. Since air bag performance varies from vehicle model to model, you may wish to contact your vehicle manufacturer for advice.