Air Bags
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 were
required to have driver and passenger air bags and safety belts. Light
trucks were subject to the same requirement beginning as of the 1999 model
year.
They save lives and reduce injury
Air bags are designed for frontal impact crashes, the kind of crashes
which account for more than half of all passenger vehicle occupant
deaths. They are designed to limit head and chest injuries. Air bags, combined with lap/shoulder safety belts, offer the most
effective protection available today for motor vehicle passengers. An
estimated 1263 lives were saved by air bags in 1999 alone according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
NHTSA estimates that the combination of an air bag in addition to a lap
and shoulder belt reduces the risk of serious head injury by 81%, compared
with 60% reduction for seat belts alone.
Unfortunately there have also been some fatalities involving air bag
deployment.
Most of these deaths could have been prevented if the occupants had
been wearing a safety belt, and if children age 12 and under had been
properly restrained in the back seat by a child safety seat, booster seat,
or seat belt.
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