Are we allowed to put our feet on the dashboard in the car?

The road to vacation is long, and stretching your legs in the rest areas is not enough? You may be tempted to extend them by putting your feet on the dashboard… Only here it is: this position is extremely dangerous for passengers. In the event of an accident, collision or other impact, this position impairs the proper functioning of the airbag and the three-point seat belt. According to the specialized site Auto Moto, the triggering of the airbags is likely to cause very serious damage to the legs and face of the passenger who would have their legs extended on the dashboard of the car.

On social networks, Internet users warn of the dangers of such a position. In January 2020 Sergeant Ian Price of Dyfed Powys Area Police in Wales (UK) posted a shocking but necessary photo of an x-ray showing body damage from an accident on a front passenger who had his feet on the dashboard at the time of the collision.

Here is an X-ray of horrific injuries sustained to the front seat passenger who had their feet on the dashboard at the time of a collision. If you see your passenger doing it stop driving and show them this. pic.twitter.com/f3XCT8ePvi

If the practice is not illegal, as a gendarme reminds us in the columns of franceinfo, the practice is extremely dangerous. “In the event of an airbag being triggered, which can be the result of any shock, even slight, the passenger’s legs are then thrown by the airbag against his chest or his face and can cause very serious injuries and disabilities”, recalled then Captain Joseph Freignaud.