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Kentucky driving lesson · Before You Drive

Air bags & child passengers

A 3-minute lesson from the Kentucky course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Before You Drive
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
36, 37

Air bags are supplemental restraints that inflate in moderate to severe crashes—sometimes even minor ones—and work best with safety belts. They can seriously hurt people sitting too close, especially children, which is why Kentucky has specific child seat and booster laws.

1/20 second

Time for the entire air bag deployment—faster than the blink of an eye

Handbook p. 36 ↗

Know the rule

Side-impact air bags deploy even faster. A powder-like substance may fill the car after deployment; it's a drying agent, not smoke.

Handbook p. 36 ↗

Avoid air bag injuries:

  • Driver's seat as far back as possible while still operating the car safely
  • Passenger seat as far back as possible; no arms, legs or items on the dashboard
  • Hands on the outside of the wheel—never across it, where the air bag deploys
  • Children 12 and under ride in the back seat, belted or in a child restraint
Handbook p. 36 ↗

Know the rule

Never put a rear-facing child safety seat in front of an active passenger air bag. Turn the air bag off if your vehicle has a factory-installed disabling switch.

Handbook p. 37 ↗

Kentucky child restraint law

Kentucky child restraint law
ChildRequirement
40 inches tall or lessFederally approved child restraint system
Under 8 and 40 to 57 inches tallChild booster seat
Taller than 57 inches, any ageNo booster seat required
Handbook p. 37 ↗
$50 + $10

Child restraint violation: $50 fine plus $10 to the Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund

Handbook p. 37 ↗

Child booster seat

A child restraint meeting 49 C.F.R. Part 571 standards, designed to raise a child to properly sit in a federally approved lap-and-shoulder belt.

Handbook p. 37 ↗

Know the rule

Ideally, put the safety seat in the middle of the rear seat, anchored so it can't move in a collision. Get installation help at a Child Safety Seat Inspection Site at your local KSP Post.

Handbook p. 37 ↗

Know the rule

Leaving a child alone risks the child moving the vehicle; in hot weather it risks the child's life. It's illegal to leave a child under 8 in a vehicle in circumstances showing extreme indifference to life that create a grave risk of death, causing death.

Handbook p. 37 ↗

Put it into practice

You're driving your 6-year-old nephew, who is 50 inches tall. He's under 8 and between 40 and 57 inches, so he must ride in a booster seat—in the back seat, where children 12 and under belong.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

About how long does the entire air bag deployment process take?
  1. About 1/20 second
  2. About half a second
  3. About 5 seconds
  4. About 1 full second

Answer: About 1/20 second

Air bag deployment takes about 1/20th of a second, faster than the blink of an eye.

Handbook p. 36 ↗
Where should a driver place their hands on the steering wheel to avoid injury from air bag deployment?
  1. Across the top of the wheel
  2. Inside the wheel's spokes
  3. Wherever is most comfortable
  4. On the outside, never across

Answer: On the outside, never across

Drivers should place their hands on the outside of the steering wheel, never across it where the airbag deploys.

Handbook p. 36 ↗
A rear-facing child safety seat should never be placed:
  1. In the rear seat of a two-door car
  2. Behind the driver's seat
  3. In the middle of the back seat
  4. In front of an active air bag

Answer: In front of an active air bag

A rear-facing child seat should never be placed in front of an active passenger air bag.

Handbook p. 37 ↗
Kentucky requires a child 40 inches in height or less to be secured in:
  1. The front passenger seat
  2. A booster seat only
  3. Any seat belt, adult or child
  4. An approved child restraint

Answer: An approved child restraint

A child 40 inches or less must be properly secured in a child restraint system meeting federal standards.

Handbook p. 37 ↗
A child under 8 who is between 40 and 57 inches tall must be secured in:
  1. A standard adult lap-and-shoulder belt only
  2. A child booster seat
  3. A rear-facing car seat
  4. No restraint is required

Answer: A child booster seat

Children under 8 who are 40-57 inches tall must be secured in a booster seat under KY law.

Handbook p. 37 ↗
A child taller than 57 inches, regardless of age, is:
  1. Exempt from seat belt laws entirely
  2. Still required to use a booster seat until age 12
  3. Not required to be secured in a booster seat
  4. Required to sit in the front seat

Answer: Not required to be secured in a booster seat

A child greater than 57 inches in height is not required to be secured in a booster seat.

Handbook p. 37 ↗
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