|
|
| |
The first federal study of automobile air bags in actual traffic
accidents has found that air bags used in conjunction with seat belts
are far more effective than seat belts alone. Air bags reduce the
risk of death in head-on collisions by 26%% and in all serious
accidents by 13%%.
Contrasting earlier findings that did not involve actual road
conditions, the study showed that air bags protected occupants in
ways that seat belts alone, did not. The air bag spread out the
violent impact of a crash and kept occupants from smashing against
the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield.
Having an air bag and wearing an effective seat belt offers the best
protection of all. Not only are you protected from frontal crashes by
the air bag -- you are also protected by the seat belt in all other
types of crashes.
Studies show that 60%% of the people killed or injured in automobile
accidents would have been saved from serious injury by safety belts.
Unfortunately, many people choose not to wear them.
With an "effective" safety belt (one that is worn and operating
correctly), your body will stop, in a crash, before you have a chance
to hit or go through the windshield and parts of your car.
Seat belts are especially important in small cars, because your
chances of being killed or badly hurt in a collision with a big car
is eight times greater. Wearing your belt will greatly improve your
chances of survival.
In a Department of Transportation study made public on June 26, 1992,
it was announced that air bags are far more effective than seat belts
alone. Air bags can reduce the risk of death in a head-on collision
by 26%% and in all serious accidents by 13%%. However, the DOT
cautioned that air bags work this well ONLY when occupants were
wearing a properly buckled seat belt over lap and shoulder. Other
studies have shown that WITHOUT A BELT, AIR BAGS ARE OF SLIGHT
BENEFIT.
Air bags are only useful in frontal crashes, so it is not a good idea
to skip your seat belt because you have an air bag. Air bags provide
very effective protection in frontal crashes, inflating instantly to
protect the driver or passenger that has a air bag. They spread the
impact of the crash over the individual's head and chest and protect
fragile body parts from the car's hard surfaces.
More than 6 million cars (about 4%% of cars on the road today) have
air bags, but the majority of them have air bags on the driver's side
only. Federal officials estimate that air bags have inflated in more
than 57,000 accidents since they were introduced, six years prior to
1992, and saved about 300 lives.
This report came out in the middle of the most sweeping safety
overhaul since the introduction of the seat belt almost 30 years ago.
For the first time, most new cars sold in the US in 1992 have
driver's side airbags. Within 6 years, federal law will require that
every new car, light truck and van have air bags on both sides.
The main concern of car safety research in the last few years has
been the development of passive safety design features, where the aim
is to improve the "crash-worthiness" of vehicles. The fundamental aim
of good passive safety design is to ensure that only tolerable loads
are applied to a car occupant's body during a crash. This is done
first by restraining the occupant within the passenger compartment by
means of a seat belt or other device, so that chances of making
contact with the interior parts of the car are reduced. Secondly,
when contacts cannot be avoided, the structures which are likely to
be hit by the occupants must be designed to collapse and cushion
them.
It is important for the designers to have some knowledge of the
forces that the human body can withstand, but as yet this branch of
biomechanics has not been fully researched. Work is done at low
impact energy levels using volunteers, but for high speed crashes it
is necessary to use dummies.
The relationship between dummy performance and that of a real person
in a crash is complex, and it may be that these differences are very
considerable. To reduce this problem, some work is currently being
done using human cadavers.
In spite of the difficulties in this area, many basic improvements
have been introduced into cars in recent years. These include
anti-burst door latches, safety glass, energy-absorbing steering
wheels and columns, head restraints and various seat belt systems.
The benefits of the three-point seat belts have been firmly
established: over 50%% of fatal and serious injuries to car occupants
would be avoided if all occupants wore their seat belts. Most states
now have a law that both passengers and driver must have seat belts
buckled while in motion. Those states which do not enforce a seat
belt law for all passengers have an effective law for children under
five years of age to be strapped in.
|
|
|
|
|
