It might be helpful to
read the actual report. About two thirds of those deaths were children, and about four fifths of those deaths were in cars that are 1997 MY and older. Out of the 96 drivers/adult passengers who received a fatal injury from an airbag, only 29 of them were using a belt properly or at all. If you look at the actual figures the vast majority of adult drivers/passengers were over 55.
The general idea is that there is an increased risk for pre-1998 MY air-bags to the elderly and children, and of those deaths most of them were from people not belted in properly or at all. I don't think I would be worried about anyone except for infants in car seats in the front passenger seat. It may be safer to stick them in the back center, but only in vehicles that don't disable the passenger side airbag based on weight, and even then that may not be any safer. It's just the only situation that's possible to be safer. Everyone else was pretty much KO'd because they weren't wearing their seatbelt and/or older air-bags weren't optimized yet.