Do Airbags Hurt More Than They Help?

Airbags are a passive restraint system that operate without conscious control of the driver. The earliest airbags were inflated using compressed air, which made for a fairly inefficient design since they often did not inflate quickly enough to serve their primary purpose and protect the vehicle driver or passenger. These early airbags lead directly to several deaths that were not related to the accident itself.

Allen Breed was the first patent holder for a crash sensing technology for vehicles which later gave rise to the true airbags that we are used to today, prior models existed, but they were tied to sensors on the bumper or were driver-operated, which meant an inefficient design that either did not inflate at all or inflated too often when the sensor on the bumper was disturbed in an way. Ford was the first U.S. automaker to begin widely accepting the airbag for use starting in 1971. GM began to introduce them on their automobiles in 1973. Cadillac was the first to offer passenger side airbags commercially but these early bags were still flawed in ways that lead directly to the deaths of some of the vehicle passengers.

It wasn't until 1988 that a car company - Chrysler - began making airbags standard equipment on all of their vehicles and in 1994, TRW (now owned by Northrop) began to create the first gas-inflated airbags which are mandatory in all vehicles as of 1998.

Airbag Safety Statistics

The rate of fatalities due to airbags has been steadily declining for decades ever since the NHSTA began collecting information. 2005 was the first year on record where no deaths were attributed to airbags at all. In all, fewer than 300 deaths have been attributed to airbag usage, however more than 20,000 lives have been saved. In general, the danger of airbags today is attributed to their not being used properly, and so, the decline of fatalities related to them is largely due to increased educational efforts on their proper usage. In addition, new features on airbags related to how they deploy improve their safety dramatically. Many airbags today do not inflate in an all or nothing manner, but can partially inflate, taking into consideration several factors such as the weight of the person sitting in the seat, how far back they are sitting from the dashboard or steering wheel and how severe the accident is likely to be based on collision data.

Many of the fatalities related to airbags were due to their being used in conjunction with car seats which once were commonly kept in the front seat next to the driver. The passenger side airbag would deploy in an accident and cause serious harm or death to the infant or young child riding in the seat. Now, however, all child safety seats recommend placing the child in the backseat and most states have laws insisting on it.

Airbags - More Good than Harm

Airbags are saving more lives and reducing injury at a significant rate over the damage they may be causing in accidents. You don't really need to worry about the likelihood of being seriously injured or killed by one if you use them properly and follow the instructions regarding their use and safety.