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Air bags in cars can save lives, but a passenger airbag is dangerous to a baby on the front passenger seat in a rearward facing child seat. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) quotes evidence from the USA which suggests that in the last 10 years airbags have saved more than 1,500 lives that would otherwise have been lost in road accidents. But RoSPA states that rearward-facing child seats must not be used in the front passenger seat if an airbag is fitted on the front passenger side. 

How are they dangerous? 

To be protective, an air bag must inflate almost instantly after a crash, so it is released from the dashboard very fast indeed, some experts say at 200 miles per hour. The clearest risk is to babies in rear-facing seats. When placed in the front seat (against manufacturers' strict warnings), rearward-facing infant seats are directly in the air bag's line of fire.

Air bags can also be dangerous for older children in the front seat. Because children have weaker back, neck, and stomach muscles, as well as a head that is larger relative to their body size, it is harder for them to maintain an upright position in even a gentle collision. So they face a greater risk of coming face to face with the blunt force of the bag as it expands. 

Where's the safest place for my child to sit?

In the UK it is illegal to put a child under 12 in the front passenger seat without the appropriate child restraint. It is much safer for babies and children under 12 to sit in the back seat using an appropriate method of restraint (child seat or seat belt), according to their age and weight. Only let your child sit in the middle of the back seat (or in the centre seat in a van) if your vehicle has a full seat belt (not just a lap belt). Otherwise the safest spot is behind the driver.

If the front passenger seat has an air bag, under no circumstances place a rearward-facing infant car seat in that spot, it is simply not a safe option.