How safe are airbags?
Like the safety belt, airbags have been a critical advance in driver and passenger safety, but there has been debate on how safe airbags actually are. Airbags do save hundreds of lives yearly, but in fewer cases it has resulted in injury and death. Most of the deaths have been children and petite adults as airbags deploy at 300km/h and small bodies can’t handle such harsh impact.
Airbags are a passive restraint system, deploying automatically in some types of crashes. What most people don’t know is that airbags where designed to be used in conjunction with safety belts. If an occupant is unrestrained, or the vehicle has an airbag installed but no safety belt, it is possible that the occupant may come into contact with the airbag before it has fully inflated. This is also the case for people who need to sit closer to the steering wheel as a result of their size.
Vehicle occupants should ensure that they are restrained regardless of whether or not a vehicle has an airbag installed, and being restrained correctly is also a factor. It is best to always seat small children at the back of the car in a car seat, as the risk of injury due to the airbag can be bigger than the injury obtained in the actual accident.
The conclusion we have found is that airbags are a good safety device and for the most part, airbags prevent far more injuries than they inflict if the passenger is an adult and wearing the safety belt correctly. The chances are you will come out less injured than without any airbags.
(Source: Arrive Alive)