Related Experiment Videos
Air bag safety
R E Antosia1, R A Partridge, A S Virk
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Study Objective:
To describe injuries associated with deployment of air bag passive-restraint systems in use in the United States.
Design:
Retrospective review of data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 1980 to 1994.
Participants:
Occupants of air bag-equipped vehicles who were involved in crashes on US roads.
Results:
Of 618 reported occupant injuries related to air bag deployment, an overwhelming majority were classified as minor (96.1%). Most occupants sustained abrasions, contusions, and lacerations. The face (42.0%), wrist (16.8%), forearm (16.3%) and chest (9.6%) were the most frequently injured body areas.
Conclusion:
Most injuries related to air bag deployment are minor and must be viewed in the context of the potentially life-threatening injuries they prevent.