Feet on the Dashboard – A Holiday Pose or a Ticket to the Emergency Room?

Summers bring not only sunlit roads but also some troubling sights in traffic – passengers lounging with their feet propped up on the dashboard. What seems like a harmless habit can turn into catastrophe in an instant, because an airbag never asks if you are ready.

In summer it is not unusual to see a passenger stretching their legs toward the windscreen or even out the window, soaking in the warmth and the ride. The problem is that a car’s safety systems are engineered to work only when a person is seated properly: back against the seat, feet on the floor, seatbelt fastened.

An airbag is harsh and uncompromising. In an accident, it deploys in about 0.05 seconds and can travel at over 300 km/h. If your legs are on the dashboard at that moment, the result is not just broken bones but often fractures so severe they can drive bone shards from the legs up to the nasal bridge. This can happen even in crashes where other occupants walk away unscathed.

More surprising still, an airbag can deploy at speeds as low as 15–25 km/h. Depending on the manufacturer, activation speed may also depend on whether the seatbelt is fastened. A driver’s airbag usually holds 60–80 litres, but the passenger’s can be a massive 130–160 litres – the larger distance to the dashboard demands more volume to do its job.

Accidents strike without warning. That is why it is wiser to keep your feet down and sit as the manufacturer intended. Only then can the vehicle offer maximum protection when things do not go according to plan.