Side airbags that protect the head and torso reduce the likelihood of death and upper body injuries to passenger vehicle drivers in near-side crashes by 61 percent compared with no side airbags. This is the main finding of a new study by the Monash University Accident Research Centre. The Victoria, Australia, study reinforces prior research on the effectiveness of side ... Read More »
Credit air bags with being lifesavers
Sheri Shepherd doesn't remember hearing the 170 decibel explosion as her air bag inflated. She doesn't remember feeling the air bag as it was propelled into her face and chest at 220 mph. Read More »
Use Of Incomplete Data Distorts Conclusions About Effectiveness Of Frontal Airbags
Are you safer in a vehicle with or without a frontal airbag? With the airbag, of course, despite a study by Mary Meyer and Tremika Finney of the University of Georgia. The main finding "” that airbags cause more deaths than they prevent"” is contradicted by years of published research establishing that airbags save lives. Read More »
Occupant Deaths From Inflating Airbags Have Been All But Eliminated
Evidence accumulates year by year that inflating frontal airbags in newer vehicles are causing few deaths and injuries. From a high of 68 deaths attributed to inflating airbags in 1995 model vehicles, only 1 such death occurred in a 2004 model (a 56-year-old woman in the front passenger seat). No deaths were caused by inflating airbags in 2002-03 models. Read More »
Consumers Gain New Information About Side Airbags That Meet Rules to Reduce Inflation Injury Risk
A voluntary agreement among automakers to test side airbags, using a set of performance requirements, is helping to assure that these features won't injure children and outof- position occupants in crashes. Read More »
Survey Finds Widespread Misuse Of Air Bag On-Off Switches in Pickups
Proper use of the switches requires drivers to turn the air bag off for children 12 and under but activate it when the passenger seat is occupied by an adult. Read More »
How are Children Best Protected when they Ride in Front of an Airbag?
Never place a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat if the air bag is turned on. Always secure a rear-facing seat in the back seat. Children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. While almost all of the children killed by an air bag were 7 years old or younger, a few older children have been ... Read More »
An Infant Should Never be Placed in Front of an Airbag!
Although most drivers have heard and are heeding airbag warnings, new research shows that roughly 175,000 babies are still being placed in the front seat, putting them at serious risk. A new survey of parents who have babies under age one reveals which parents are least likely to take the precautions of always properly restraining babies in rear-facing safety seats ... Read More »
How to Ride Safely on the Passenger Side with an Airbag?
Always wear seat belts. This reduces the distance that they can move forward during a crash. Move the seat toward the rear. The distance between a passenger’s chest and the dashboard where the air bag is stored is usually more than 10 inches, even with the passenger seat all the way forward. But more distance is safer. Read More »
Alternatives to Deactivating your Airbags
Airbags save lives and should not be deactivated. There are very few exceptions to this rule. When you have a car with no back seat, children in their safety seats can be put in front with a deactivated bag. If the driver is unable to sit 10″ or more away from the steering wheel, the airbag can be deactivated but ... Read More »
