AIRBAG AND SEAT BELT -  INJURIES & DEATHS

Airbags are supposed to be fully inflated before the passenger comes into contact with it during a crash.  Serious injuries occur when air bags, which can travel at speeds up to 200 mph, hit occupants prior to full inflation resulting in serious injuries, eye and cornea damage, decapitation and/or death to the occupant. Serious inflation injuries occur primarily because of people's positions when airbags first begin inflating. Anyone, regardless of size or age, who's on top of, or very close to, an airbag is at risk. Most airbag deaths have involved people who weren't using belts, were using them incorrectly, or were positioned improperly.

People without belts or using them incorrectly, especially passengers, are at risk because they're likely to move forward during hard braking or other violent maneuvers before crashes. Then they're likely to be very close to, or on top of, airbags before inflation begins. Improperly positioned people at risk include drivers who sit very close to the steering wheel -- 10 inches or closer -- and infants in rear-facing restraints in front seats.

The idea for the air bag goes back to the '60s and '70s. Researchers had long been searching for a device to reduce head injuries during high-impact auto accidents. Head trauma causes thousands of deaths a year, and it was believed that a cushion of air inserted between the dashboard and the occupants could markedly reduce head injuries. Decades of research went into the development of the first airbag. 

Shorter drivers benefit from airbags: The benefits for short drivers are illustrated by two flat-barrier crash tests at 35 mph, each with a 5-foot female dummy using a safety belt. The driver seats were moved nearly all the way forward, and each dummy's knees almost touched the instrument panel. One car had an airbag, which effectively protected the small dummy. In the other car -- the same model except there was no airbag -- the dummy's face hit the steering wheel rim hard enough to bend it severely.

Since 1990, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recorded 175 fatalities as a result of an air bag deployment. To date, 104 of these deaths have been children, while the remaining 71 have been adults. Air bags are designed for frontal impact crashes, the kind of crashes which account for more than half of all passenger vehicle occupant deaths. Air bags are designed to limit head and chest injuries. But they only supplement safety belts, they do not replace them. Placing a child in the front seat of a car in a rear-facing child seat carries serious risks because the child's head is inches away from the compartment where an air bag is housed. Since air bags deploy at 200 miles per hour, an infant is at serious risk  or death should an air bag deploy. A study of real-world crashes conducted by (NHTSA) found that the combination of seat belts and air bags is 75 percent effective in preventing serious head injuries and 66 percent effective in preventing serious chest injuries. That means 75 of every 100 people who would have suffered a serious head injury in a crash, and 66 out of 100 people who would have suffered chest injuries, were spared that fate because they wore seat belts and had air bags. The one fact that is common to all who died is NOT their height, weight, sex, or age. Rather, it is the fact that they were too close to the air bag when it started to deploy. For some, this occurred because they were sitting too close to the air bag. More often this occurred because they were not restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and were thrown forward during pre-crash braking.

Air bags are designed to save lives and prevent injuries by cushioning occupants as they move forward in a front-end crash. By providing a cushion, an air bag keeps the occupant's head, neck, and chest from hitting the steering wheel or dashboard. To perform well, an air bag must deploy quickly and forcefully. The force is greatest in the first 2-3 inches after the air bag bursts through its cover and begins to inflate. Those 2-3 inches are the "risk zone." The force decreases as the air bag inflates farther.

Occupants who are very close to or on top of the air bag when it begins to inflate can be hit with enough force to suffer serious injury or death. However, occupants who are properly restrained and sit 10 inches away from the air bag cover will contact the air bag only after it has completely or almost completely inflated. The air bag then will cushion and protect them from hitting the hard surfaces in the vehicle.

AIRBAG & SEAT BELT DEATHS AMONG CHILDREN

Almost all of the 49 children who died were improperly restrained or positioned. 12 were infants under age 1 who were riding in rear-facing infant seats in front of the passenger air bag. When placed in the front seat, a rear-facing infant seat places an infant's head within a very few inches of the passenger air bag. In this position, an infant is almost certain to be injured if the air bag deploys.

Rear-facing infant seats must ALWAYS be placed in the back seat. The other 37 children ranged in age from 1 to 9 years; most were 7 or under. Twenty nine of them were totally unrestrained. This includes 4 children who were sitting on the laps of other occupants. The remaining 8 children included some who were riding with their shoulder belts behind them and some who were wearing lap and shoulder belts, but who also should have been in booster seats because of their small size and weight. Booster seat use could have improved shoulder belt fit and performance. These various factors allowed the 37 children to get too close to the air bag when it began to inflate.

ON-OFF SWITCHES FOR AIRBAGS 

The federal government has set criteria for the very few cases when airbag on/off switches may be needed to avoid injury risk. But getting a driver airbag switch makes sense only when someone -- for example, a very short person -- has tried various positions and cannot comfortably drive while sitting back and away from the steering wheel. A woman late in pregnancy who cannot get her abdomen away from the steering wheel also may wish to get permission for a switch based on medical need. But remember that in a serious crash without an airbag, sitting so close to the wheel means a high risk of hitting it.

Most 1998 and later cars will have redesigned airbags with less powerful inflators that reduce injury risk. In these cars, there's probably no need to get an on/off switch for a driver airbag even if you cannot get 10 inches from the wheel. Still, it's best to sit back and away from an airbag.

On the passenger side, there's no significant airbag injury risk for belted adults sitting back in the seat. The risk for infants and children can be eliminated by ensuring they ride in a back seat, properly restrained. The back is safer anyway.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over 107 million (52%) of the over 207 million cars and light trucks on U.S. roads have driver air bags. More than 81 million (39.4%) of these also have passenger air bags. Another one million new vehicles are being sold each month. By law, beginning with model year 1998, all new passenger cars are required to have driver and passenger air bags and safety belts. Light trucks are subject to the same requirement beginning with the 1999 model year.

AIRBAG DANGERS & SOLUTIONS

• During pre-crash braking, an unrestrained passenger may be thrown against the dashboard area, in immediate proximity to an air bag. Since air bags inflate in less than 1/25th of a second, faster than the blink of an eye, drivers and passengers who are unrestrained or are wearing only the lap portion of their safety belt can receive serious or even fatal injuries from deploying air bags.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified 101 crashes where the deployment of the passenger air bag resulted in fatal head or neck injuries to a child. In addition, three children have been killed by driver side air bags. Nineteen of these deaths were to infants in rear-facing child safety seats. Most of the other 84 children were determined to be completely unbuckled, "out of position," or wearing only the lap portion of the safety belt (improperly restrained) at the time of the crash. 
•  Infants should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag.
• Children ages 12 and under should always be properly restrained in a child safety seat or safety belt and ride in the back seat. Even if there isn't a passenger air bag in the motor vehicle, the safest place for infants and children is properly secured and buckled up in the back seat. 
• Seat belts, both lap and shoulder, should be used with air bags. Safety belt use, currently at 70 percent in the United States, needs to increase.