Air bags — Utah Permit Test

An air bag comes out of the dashboard at up to 200 mph, which is why its force can hurt anyone sitting too close.

It is not a pillow. At that speed the bag hits you before you have begun to move toward it.

To do its important job, an air bag comes out of the dashboard at up to 200 mph—faster than the blink of an eye.

Air bags are designed to work with safety belts rather than replace them.

The belt holds you in the seat so the bag meets you where it was aimed. One without the other is half a system.

Air bags are designed to work with safety belts, not replace them.

An infant should never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag.

A rear-facing seat puts a baby’s head right where the bag opens. There is no version of this that ends well.

Infants should never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag.

A driver and front seat passenger should be moved as far back as practical from the air bag.

Distance is the whole defense. Every inch you move back is more room for the bag to finish opening.

Driver and front seat passengers should be moved as far back as practical.

It is a Class B misdemeanor in Utah to remove, fail to repair, or modify a vehicle’s air bag system so that the air bag cannot work.

A disabled bag looks exactly like a working one from the driver’s seat. The buyer of that car never finds out.

It is a Class B misdemeanor if you remove, fail to have repaired, or modify your vehicle’s air bag passive restraint system to render the air bag inoperable.

If a child must ride in a seating position with an air bag, the vehicle seat should be moved as far back as possible and the child correctly secured in an appropriate car seat.

Sometimes there is no back seat at all. Moving the seat back is the only protection left to arrange.

If a child must ride in a seating position with an air bag, move the vehicle seat as far back as possible and ensure they are correctly secured in an appropriate child car seat.

How fast does an air bag come out of the dashboard?

Up to 200 mph. It is not a pillow. At that speed the bag hits you before you have begun to move toward it. Utah Driver Handbook 2026-2027, p.29: “To do its important job, an air bag comes out of the dashboard at up to 200 mph—faster than the blink of an eye.”