Explained: Why you should never put your feet on car dashboard

Airbags, which are standard safety equipment in modern cars, deploy in a split second and explode from their compartment at a rate of 322 km/h to cushion your head and body in case of a crash.

Hyderabad: Most people get into the passenger seat of a car and immediately prop their feet up against the dashboard. Unfortunately, it is the most dangerous thing to do if your driver needs to stop suddenly or the vehicle is involved in a crash.

Airbags, which are standard safety equipment in modern cars, deploy in a split second and explode from their compartment at a rate of 322 km/h to cushion your head and body in case of a crash.

If you are seated appropriately, they work as intended. However, putting your feet on the dashboard forces the airbag to endanger your life as the sudden release may push a passenger’s feet up through the roof or a broken windshield.

Airbag deployment can also force a person’s legs backward toward their face at a speed of over 100 mph, breaking legs, pelvises, noses, foreheads, and jawbones.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), “Arms and legs should never be resting against an airbag because the forces of a deploying airbag and the hot gases exhausted by the airbag may cause injury.”

So, throwing your feet up on the dashboard for short-term comfort is definitely not worth the risk!