Buckle Up: Airbags Save Lives

In the world of automotive safety, the airbag is second only to seatbelts for saving lives when it comes to visible, optional protection. Yet for all the good that seatbelts have statistically done, there is still a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about air bags, how they work, and the most effective way to use them. Airbags are designed to work as a unit along with seatbelts. Used improperly, they can cause more harm than good and sometimes, they have even killed. Also, you may be offered a cheap car insurance policy if you drive a vehicle with many safety features and have a good driving record.

What Airbags Are

Most people think of an airbag as a nice, pillowy-soft cushion that springs forth out of nowhere to make for a soft landing if your car comes to a sudden stop from a collision. This is very untrue and unrealistic and dangerous as far as safety is concerned. Airbags deploy in less than a fraction of a second, and a split second later, they are deflated. Their purpose is either served in that split second or they are wasted.

In 1954 the U.S. government passed a law mandating that all cars starting in April of 1989 have a driver airbag. Since 1998, the amended Federal law requires that all new cars built have both driver and passenger front airbags. Improvements in technology, however are allowing for different airbag types to be used in some vehicles for increased safety. Some cars come with side airbags either mounted on the seats or directly in the vehicle. These airbags help to protect from side-impact collisions, which front airbags cannot do. Another technological advance is in dual-stage airbags, which are airbags that intelligently measure the severity of a crash and can either deploy to maximum or sub-maximum levels to reduce the chance of injury from the inflation. Your auto insurance company also takes your car's airbags into account when determining the price of your car insurance policy.

According to the national Highway Traffic Safety Administration, airbag use saved 2,796 lives when combined with proper seatbelt use. Numerous tests and research studies have proven the effectiveness of airbags in saving lives as opposed to not having them available in an accident. Important to remember is that airbags are not meant to be used alone. They are not an effective safety device when used without seatbelts. Other safety considerations for airbag use include:

• Never put forward-facing or rear-facing car seats in the front seat. The deployment of the airbag can cause serious injury or death to a child in a car seat. In most states it is illegal to have a car seat in the front seat.
• Never sit young children in the front seat if at all possible.Children under the age of 12 should generally sit in the backseat if at all possible. The safety data and design for airbags depends on the passenger being a certain size and weighing a minimal amount that younger children cannot match.
• Drivers should sit at least 10” away from the steering wheel. Airbags do not require a lot of time to deploy properly, but they do require a minimal amount of space, and drivers who sit too close to the steering wheel are at risk of serious injury if the airbag goes off but the driver is already colliding with the steering wheel from the impact because they were sitting too close.