THE EFFECT OF AIRBAGS ON INJURIES AND ACCIDENT COSTS

Earlier studies carried out by the GDV clearly confirmed the protective action of the front airbag as a restraint system in addition to the three-point seat belt - primarily for the driver. The present paper focuses in particular with "airbag problems", i.e. "injuries caused by the airbag", "airbag activation while the vehicle is stopped", "airbag activation while driving" and "no airbag activation despite high accident severity". The last problem cases involved traffic fatalities. Moreover, the topic of "airbag and the cost of repair work" is also discussed. The problem cases that are described in this paper demonstrate that the airbag itself, its components, its activation behavior, its activation threshold and the activation safety must still be optimized. Raising the activation threshold to approx. 25-30 km/h, i.e. coordinating the activation threshold to the belted passengers, would not only reduce the danger of injury caused by the airbag itself, but would also lead to a reduction of the costs for repair work. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102514.

• Record URL:
  • http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/esv/16th/
• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Safety Advisory Committee

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • LANGWIEDER, K
  • HUMMEL, T A
  • ANSELM, D
• Conference:
  • 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles
  • Location: Windsor Ontario, Canada
  • Date: 1998-5-31 to 1998-6-4
• Publication Date: 1998-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 338-58
• Serial:
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue Number: DOTHS808759

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Costs; Crashes; Injuries
• Geographic Terms: Germany
• ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 1465: Air bag (restraint system); 1631: Collision; 224: Cost; 8125: Germany; 2163: Injury
• Subject Areas: Finance; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00779241
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 7 1999 12:00AM