RESTRAINT EFFECTIVENESS, OCCUPANT EJECTION FROM CARS, AND FATALITY REDUCTIONS

The effectiveness of air cushion restraint systems, or airbags, in preventing fatalities is estimated by assuming that they do not affect ejection probability, and protect only in frontal, or near frontal, crashes with impact-reducing effectiveness equal to that of lap/shoulder belts. In order to compute airbag effectiveness, lap/shoulder belt effectiveness and the fraction of fatalities preventable by eliminating ejection are estimated using Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) data. Ejection prevention is found to account for almost half of the effectiveness of lap/shoulder belts (essentially all for lap belts only). Airbag effectiveness is estimated as (18 plus or minus 4) percent in preventing fatalities to drivers and (13 plus or minus 4) percent to right front passengers. Drivers switching from lap/shoulder belt to airbag-only protection increase their fatality risk by 41 percent.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Corporate Authors:

  Pergamon Press, Incorporated

  Headington Hill Hall
  Oxford OX30BW,    
• Authors:
  • Evans, Leonard
• Publication Date: 1990-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 167-175
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 22
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Ejection; Fatalities; Manual safety belts; Measures of effectiveness; Prevention
• Identifier Terms: Fatal Accident Reporting System
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness; Lap-shoulder belts
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00493805
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-040 661
• Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 30 1990 12:00AM