Our new Camry is the first car we've ever had wit air bags! My husband keeps telling me to put my purse in the floor because it could interfere with the air bag if something happened and we had a collison. Is this true?

I'm forever getting a drink of water, getting my phone out or putting on lipstick when riding in the passenger seat so I have always been in the habit of having my purse on my lap. I like it that way. Do I really need to break this habit?

I don't think it would interfere with the bag deploying, but the purse itself might cause you some damage. Think about that thing slamming into you from the force of the bag. Not a good idea!

I keep imagining a scenario like, what if you hit a car head on and your lipstick flew out of your purse, hit the airbag flew and back at you with all that force. You could lose an eye or something. This may sound extreme, but a cop once told me of a person who was killed by a flying kleenex box and probably would have survived otherwise.

Thank you so much for your replies. I guess flying objects of any kind could prove to be deadly if you were in a car accident.

When I look at the place where the front airbag is, I think it would hit me in the head rather than the chest. I can see how my glasses could even be dangerous if that was to happen.

The airbag may be placed high on the dash, but when it deploys it actually bounces off the windshield and towards you in the blink of an eye.

Yes, the airbag deploys rather quickly and my advice keep the purse on the floor less object that can fly around your body the better.

I dont buy that kleenex box story, but I did watch a funny video on streetfire.net. This guy pulled an airbag out of a car and set it on the ground. Then he sat on top of it. His plan was for it to shoot up and push him in the air. Well, it opened forward and almost lifted him off his feet by his bean bag. It was sooo funny.

A Kleenex box? Hmmm.

Guess I'd better clean off the front seat which is like a mini office!

I'm not sure about a Kleenex box, or even a purse being dangerous, but I know the air bag itself can be. Just be sure you are sitting far enough back from it. I guess they're good in serious accidents, but they also tend to deploy in minor ones and can cause a lot of pain and even burn your skin.

How sensitive is the airbag thing? I've heard that someone kicked it while sitting down and the bag deployed and broke her leg. Is it reasonably safe?