Basic Airbag Safety

Air bags are very complex systems. By what mechanism do they deploy? In what instances are they designed to deploy? When are they not meant to? These are all questions that will be addressed in later posts. For now however, I will concentrate in what I see as the most immediately relevant to the motoring public.

Airbags are meant to supplement the seat belts in restraining a vehicle occupant in the event of an accident. Their role as a supplementary restraint system (hence SRS) cannot be stressed enough. Seat belts will restrain occupants in events in which the air bag will not offer any protection (and therefore will not deploy), such as rear end collisions, roll overs, and T-Bone collisions (in referring to frontal airbags). Moreover, air bags will only deploy once, while an accident might actually involve multiple collisions. Furthermore, airbags are designed to deploy in crashes of a pre-determined severity level. However, this does not mean that crashes that fall below this deployment criteria will not hurt you... and so you see the importance of seat belts.

Think of a deploying airbag. While in slow motion (as you are likely used to seeing the deployment) it may resemble a slow, soft pillow that gently cradles the driver's (or passenger's) upper torso and face, in reality a deploying airbag is a violent event. It inflates and completely deflates in less time than it takes to blink your eyes, and is quite capable of fracturing your orbital bone, collapsing your lungs and breaking your neck. I have seen multiple cases in which fractures to the forearm bones occur from a deploying airbag. They can cause severe permanent damage. How to best avoid these injuries you ask? By not being out of position at the moment of deployment.

Think of it as the difference between the occupant coming into contact with the deployed airbag, and the deploying airbag coming into contact with the occupant. The best way to avoid a deploying airbag, is to be a properly belted occupant, seated no less than 10-12in. from the SRS module (See Owner's Manual). It's no good to be a properly belted occupant if you are sitting too close. The airbag will still impact you while it is deploying.




It is also important to note that not all impacts occur like the one shown above, without any prior frontal deceleration. In many occasions the driver may attempt to apply the brakes before the collision, throwing the body forward before the collision and subsequent deployment. This will place you in the way of the deploying airbag if not buckled and seated properly, and increase the risk of serious injury.