Airbags

Airbags mounted in the steering wheel (driver-side) and the right front instrument panel (passenger-side) are designed to protect people in serious frontal crashes. This type of crash accounts for more than one-half of all occupant crash deaths.

Airbags work by preventing your upper body from striking the steering wheel, dashboard and windshield in a head-on collision. Airbags are designed primarily for head-on collisions, not for side and rear collisions, or rollovers. Airbags will deploy in most side-collisions, but are not effective in rear-end collisions or if the car rolls over.

Your position in relation to the airbag determines your level of risk. To avoid injury, drivers must sit at least 10 inches away from the hub of the steering wheel. For general safety, move your seat as far back as you can as long as you are still able to reach the pedals. If your steering wheel is adjustable, tilt it downward so that it points toward your chest instead of your neck and head.

Most airbags are designed to inflate in crashes equivalent to hitting a solid barrier at speeds as low as 10-12 miles per hour.

Airbags supplement the effectiveness of safety belts. They are not designed to be used alone.

A sensor is activated when the car strikes a solid object. This sensor sends an electric current, initiating a chemical release of non-toxic nitrogen gas that causes the airbag to inflate. The deployment is instantaneous and the airbag deflates Immediateely, preventing the risk of suffocation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 1,584 lives were saved by airbags in 2000.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the combination of an airbag plus a lap/shoulder belt reduces the risk of moderate and serious head injury by 81 percent compared with a 60 percent reduction for a person who uses only a safety belt.

Airbags reduce fatalities in frontal crashes by 26 percent for drivers using safety belts and by 32 percent for drivers not using safety belts.

Airbags reduce fatalities in frontal crashes by 14 percent for passengers using safety belts and by 23 percent for passengers not using safety belts.

Since 1990, airbags have been blamed for the deaths of at least 191 people, mostly children and small-statured women, in low speed accidents that they otherwise should have survived.

Of the 67 drivers killed by airbags (53 females, 14 males), 43 are believed to have been unbelted and 23 are believed to have been using lap/shoulder belts. Five of the 23 using lap/shoulder belts may have misused the belts, 2 used the shoulder belt only, and 1 only used the lap belt.

Of the 97 children killed by passenger-side airbags in 2000, 76 may have been unbelted; 11 may have used only lap belts; 5 were thought to be using lap/shoulder belts; and 2 were in forward-facing child restraints that were not properly secured to the vehicle. Belt use is unknown for the other two children.

Babies can be seriously injured or risk death if they are not properly restrained. To avoid airbag injuries, place infants weighing 20 pounds or less in a rear-facing child safety seat in the back seat of the car. Be sure the safety seat is properly secured. Never place infants in the front passenger seat.

The back seat is the safest seat for kids of any age. Properly restrained children riding in the back seat are 36 percent less likely to suffer fatal injuries.

If there are not enough safety belts for all children in the back seat, the oldest child should sit in the front seat, properly restrained and with the seat moved as far back as possible.

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