Airbags detonate with more than 1200 lbs of force at speeds up to 230 miles per hour. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 169 people, including 100 children and at least 26 women, have been killed by air bags in crashes in which serious injuries would otherwise have been unlikely.
On the other hand, NHTSA estimates that 6,138 lives (5,185 drivers and 953 front-right passengers) have been saved by air bags, and at the same time, children, small adults, and out-of-position passengers in the front seats of cars risk serious injury when air bags are deployed at full force during automobile accidents. Airbag systems were developed for the 5 ft 8 inch 180 lb. male, and only tested to be sure they met their needs. Unfortunately, this did not help shorter people, who have to sit closer to the steering wheel than 10 or 12 inches. Nor did the requirements consider children, or those who have medical reasons why they are in danger from the force of an exploding airbag.
As bad as the deaths reported are, when compared to the number of lives saved, it might seem that the benefits outweigh the dangers, but these death totals are not really the total. The fact is that we American drivers are being forced to have a dangerous technology in our automotiles, and we are being lied to about the severity of the danger. The number of airbag induced deaths reported by NHTSA only has included accidents investigated by their Special Crash Investigation (SCI) Division. As of 1988, the SCI decided to focus only on investigating accidents that included the latest airbag technology, because their primary purpose is to help auto manufacturers develop safer and better airbags. But whenever statistics on airbag induced deaths are quoted, those numbers are used as if the SCI investigated deaths are the only deaths from airbags. But the bulk of the deaths are not investigated because they don't involve the latest technology. Therefore there are far more deaths than are quoted in the official statistics published by NHTSA. This holds true with injuries as well: very few are ever investigated or counted.
The good news is that NHTSA recently set up a new standard to make air bags themselves safer by requiring new tests that take into account children in the front seat and small adults, as drivers and front-seat passengers. The tests will be phased in over the next several years. The approach being taken by air bag manufacturers is to utilize a system of load cells that detect the weight and position of the passenger. This information is used to calculate the appropriate air bag force for children, small adults, and out of position passengers. Unfortunately, a solution we can depend on is not due until 2012.
For most of us the presence of air bags is a good thing, but there is a significant segment of the population for whom the activation of an air age can mean serious injury and even death. Those at risk include small children sitting in the front seat of a car, especially if they're not wearing safety belts, small adults who must sit close to the steering wheel in order to reach the pedals, obese adults and pregnant women, and the elderly. As well, while it is generally recommended that infants ride in rear-facing baby seats when they're in the back seat of a car, when the same seats are placed in a car's front seat, there is risk of severe head trauma if the bag deploys.
Reducing the Risk of Air Bar-Induced Injuries
While air bags can be deactivated, there are less extreme methods of reducing the likelihood of an air-bag related injury. They include:
Move the seat back. If you're an adult of short stature, push the seat back when you're riding as a passenger, ensuring that your breastbone is at least ten inches from the air bag cover. If you're the driver, you may not have this option, but you can look into modified pedals, so you can sit farther from the steering wheel.
Keep kids in the back seat. Children under twelve should sit in the back seat whenever possible, even if the front passenger seat is empty. This is especially true for rear-facing infant seats, but even forward-facing infant seats should never be in the front seat if it can be avoided. Buckle up. Seatbelts, when worn correctly, will keep you from falling forward, into the path of an air bag as it is deployed. Insist that the car does not move until everyone is buckled in.
Switch it Off
If none of the options above will work for you and your car, you can have an air bag cutoff switch installed in your car so that you have control of whether or not the air bags will be deployed. The NHTSA has allowed repair shops and dealers to install these switches for ten years now, but before the work can be done, there is a four-step process you must complete:
You must obtain an information brochure and request form, either from your repair shop, dealer, or directly from the NHTSA.
You must complete the form, and send it to the NHTSA
The NHTSA must review your request, and certify that you have met one of the four conditions of eligibility: ?You have no option except the front seat for a rear-facing infant seat (in a two-seat car, for example.) ?Your driver's seat cannot be adjusted to allow more than ten inches between the driver and the steering wheel. ?You cannot avoid having a child aged twelve or younger as a front passenger. ?You have a medical condition (including morbid obesity, pregnancy, or old age) that puts you at risk of injury when an air bag is activated.
You must take your vehicle, and the authorization, to your dealer or service station, and have the cutoff switch installed.
The point of automobile air bags is to help, not harm. While having them can save your insurance premium from increasing because of post-accident hospital bills, or earn you an insurance discount, if you are more likely to be injured by the air bag, you should take steps to protect yourself, including deactivation, if necessary.
Both Janan Frasier & Rob Parker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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