With the growing concern about the potential dangers with rear facing child seats placed in the front seat of passenger airbag equipped cars, various systems are being considered for deactivation of the airbag.
To increase the awareness of and confidence in these proposed systems, information displays were developed for the purpose of telling the status of the passenger airbag system and to warn when necessary. A study of the effectiveness, understanding and acceptance of a selection of such information displays was jointly undertaken by Volvo Car Corporation, SAAB Automobile AB and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute.
Respondents of various age and demographic composition, parents and grand parents of small children, were exposed to six different sets of information displays and were asked to interpret them and also rank which information displays that would most clearly convey the message. Conclusions were drawn concerning information content, symbols and colours.
The study did also investigate the respondents preference regarding automatic or manual disconnection airbag system.