Feet on the Dashboard

Q: I saw a person riding in the passenger seat of a car with their feet up on the dashboard. I’m concerned about what would happen in a collision, since there’s an airbag in the dash. Can police pull them over and warn them not to put their feet on the dash?

A: Maybe you’ve noticed that in movies, when a passenger in a car puts their feet on the dashboard, it’s often to convey that the character is a free spirit; someone who can’t be confined by traditional expectations. And someone who isn’t burdened by the thoughts of what might happen in a crash. Putting your feet on the dash isn’t a wise choice, but as long as those feet aren’t interfering with the driver’s control over the vehicle or blocking the driver’s view, that passenger can put them wherever they’d like. The law prohibits plenty of ill-considered behaviors, but not all of them.

I planned to write ‘dumb’ instead of ‘ill-considered’, but that’s not accurate. Putting your feet on the dash isn’t proof that a person lacks intelligence, but it is an example of not fully considering the scope of the situation. So let’s consider it.

An airbag deploys at around 200 mph. As it reaches full inflation the speed diminishes rapidly, but those first couple of inches are not to be trifled with. An airbag, when sat upon, has enough force to throw a full-size person into the air, as multiple people have demonstrated on the internet. For the person with their feet on the dash, take a moment to visualize what would happen to their legs in the event of an airbag deployment. Or if your imagination isn’t enough, and you’re not easily nauseated, you can find an x-ray of the results online. (One femur broken, the other dislocated, in case you’re wondering.)

You might also be surprised at the impact speeds that trigger airbag deployment. Front airbags will typically deploy when a crash is the equivalent of a 16-mph impact into a solid object. And here’s a tip for the six percent of people in Washington that don’t wear their seat belt: an airbag will deploy at slower impact speeds for unbuckled occupants (around 10-12 mph), to compensate for the lack of a seat belt. If you’re not going to wear it for yourself, you might do it to save thousands on airbag replacement costs from a low-speed crash.

Let’s consider the situation well-considered. The law won’t force anyone to keep their feet off the dash, but good judgment (and concern for being folded into a pretzel in a fraction of a second) should get us there.

Now for your actual question. No, the police can’t pull over a vehicle to tell the passenger to take their feet off the dash. The law places limits on when the government can interfere with a person’s freedom of movement, and that includes traffic stops. Those limits allow police to stop a car when the officer observes a traffic violation or reasonably suspects that someone in the vehicle committed a crime, but it doesn’t permit traffic stops for giving safety recommendations.

It’s a balance of safety and citizen freedom. The police won’t chase you down because you put your feet on the dash, bet your life savings on the underdog, or marry someone you met in a drinking game next door to a Las Vegas wedding chapel. Some actions have legal consequences; some have life consequences. Either way, there are consequences. Who knows, the spur-of-the-moment wedding might work out, but still, keep your feet off the dash.