This subject has been covered a couple times recently....do a search and you should find the answers to all your questions.

 

I have been trying to get one for a few weeks now. I have the Federal approval, but the dealer can't get any info from Nissan regarding this part. NNA customer affairs says that there will be information on availability in Jan or Feb of '03.

Someone here got an aftermarket switch installed. No idea on cost, but search should bring up the details.

 

Airbags are OK for most older children and can save their life! The popular notion that airbags and children are dangerous is untrue most of the time. People hear about some children getting killed or injured by an air bag and they generalize that airbags are bad for children. If the child is old enough to legally sit in the front of a Z in the first place, then the airbag will do more good than harm. And that's the whole point. Please read here for more information and make your own informed decision: http://www.nhtsa.com/airbags/brochure/

To summarize (from tbcz Moderator) at
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hlight=airbags

"Most air bag injuries are minor cuts, bruises, or abrasions and are far less serious than the skull fractures and brain injuries that air bags prevent. However, 87 people have been killed by air bags as of November 1, 1997. These deaths are tragic, but rare events -- there have been about 1,800,000 air bag deployments as of that same date. The one fact that is common to all who died is NOT their height, weight, sex, or age. Rather, it is the fact that they were too close to the air bag when it started to deploy."

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"Almost all of the 49 children who died were improperly restrained or positioned. 12 were infants under age 1 who were riding in rear-facing infant seats in front of the passenger air bag. When placed in the front seat, a rear-facing infant seat places an infant's head within a very few inches of the passenger air bag. In this position, an infant is almost certain to be injured if the air bag deploys. Rear-facing infant seats must ALWAYS be placed in the back seat. The other 37 children ranged in age from 1 to 9 years; most were 7 or under. Twenty nine of them were totally unrestrained. This includes 4 children who were sitting on the laps of other occupants. The remaining 8 children included some who were riding with their shoulder belts behind them and some who were wearing lap and shoulder belts, but who also should have been in booster seats because of their small size and weight. Booster seat use could have improved shoulder belt fit and performance. These various factors allowed the 37 children to get too close to the air bag when it began to inflate."

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"How do I best protect children? Never place a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat if the air bag is turned on. Always secure a rear-facing seat in the back seat. Children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. While almost all of the children killed by an air bag were 7 years old or younger, a few older children have been killed. Accordingly, age 12 is recommended to provide a margin of safety. There are instances when children must sit in the front, because the vehicle has no rear seat, there are too many children for all to ride in back, or a child has a medical condition that requires monitoring. If children must sit in the front seat, they should use the seat belts and/or child restraint appropriate for their weight or size (see the table at the end of this brochure) and sit against the back of the vehicle seat. The vehicle seat should be moved as far back from the air bag as practical. Make sure the child's shoulder belt stays on. If adult seat belts do not fit properly, use a booster seat. Also, children must never ride on the laps of others."

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"C A U T I O N : If you allow children to ride in the front seat while unrestrained or improperly restrained, and especially if you sit with a child on your lap, you are putting them at serious risk, with or without an air bag. Turning off the air bag is not the safe answer. It would eliminate air bag risk but not the likelihood that in a crash an unrestrained child would fly through the air and strike the dashboard or windshield, or be crushed by your body."

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"Two risk groups have a high enough risk that they would definitely be better off with an on-off switch:

Infants in rear-facing infant seats.

Drivers or passengers with unusual medical conditions.

Two other risk groups may be better off with an air bag on-off switch:

Children ages 1 to 12.

Drivers who cannot get back 10 inches."


Here is a quote from the document "Procedure for getting an on/off switch":

"NHTSA is also undertaking a campaign in conjunction with safety groups, vehicle manufacturers and state and local authorities to promote increased use of all types of occupants restraints. NHTSA is urging motorists to use child restraints and seat belts and place children in the back seat, whenever possible, as well as spreading the word about the benefits of air bags for most people. Proper use of the restraint(s) most appropriate to the weight and age of each child fatally injured to date by air bags would have saved all or almost all of them. While increasing numbers of parents are placing their children in the back seat or ensuring that they are properly secured in the front seat, much consumer education work remains to be done.

Disturbingly, most of the fatally-injured children were allowed to ride in the front without any type of restraint whatsoever. And, as of July 15, 1997, five out of the last seven fatally injured children aged 1 to 12 were simply "held in place" on the lap of a front seat passenger. There were no similar fatalities before December 1996. It is not known whether the sudden appearance of fatalities under these particular circumstances is mere chance or a response to the publicity given child air bag fatalities last fall. It is known that the combined effects of the risk of an air bag to an unrestrained child, and the weight that an adult places on a child during a frontal crash can make the decision to attempt to hold a child in place a fatal one. Children should ride fully restrained, and in the back seat whenever possible."