I believe that was never true for vehicle occupants in the typical ranges of height, weight, and age. Failure to use seat-belts with earlier generations of air

I believe that was never true for vehicle occupants in the typical ranges of height, weight, and age. Failure to use seat-belts with earlier generations of airbags tended to lead to unbelted occupants "submarining" under the opening airbag, leading to lower body injuries, although the "submarining" jargon now appears to be applied to situation where a lap belt is wore higher on the abdomen rather than low on the hip bones, with the higher position tending to lead to abdominal injuries. With newer generations of airbag design and other tech such as active seat belt pre-tensioners, I would be extremely surprised to find any recommendations against wearing seatbelts, except perhaps for the 1 in 100,000 cases - near-term pregnant women or persons with recent abdominal surgery. Here's a detailed review (from the mid-90's) http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Air+Bags/Third+Report+to+Congress+Effectiveness+of+Occupant+Protection+Systems+and+Their+Use http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Air+Bags/Third+Repor... and more recent reports http://www.nhtsa.gov/Driving+Safety/Research+&+Evaluation/Behavioral+Reports:+Seat+Belts http://www.nhtsa.gov/Driving+Safety/Research+&+Evaluation/Be... http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/facts.html http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/facts.html