Airbags: high risk?
Could airbags actually increase the likelihood of injury in crashes rather than reducing it?
That’s what some researchers of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, are
proposing.The team obtained information from the U.S. National Trauma Data Bank on vehicle collisions between 1988 to 2004. While seatbelt and airbag combinations reduced the risks of injury, the team discovered that, for arm and leg trauma, airbags provided no arm protection and increased chances of leg injuries by up to thirty-five percent.
The team hypothesizes that airbag deployment in the more severe collisions may be a possible reason for the results.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Damon 7:47PM (12/26/2005)
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released their airbag statistics in October. Here is the link: http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/airbag_stats.html
When will the debate about airbag safety be squelched?
Some quick (and relatively unboring) stats from the report:
18,319 people saved because of airbags.
262 deaths reportedly caused by airbags.
Of those 262, 55 were believed to be unbelted and 4 were not using their belts properly. Included in that 262 were 138 kids killed by airbags, 109 were believed to be unrestrained and 23 were restrained improperly.
Where seatbelts and live. Period.
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rw 8:02PM (12/26/2005)
The reason these people have severe injuries is because of the severity of the crash. My future daughter in law was in a head on in her Toyota without the airbag she would not be here. With the airbag she has two broken fingers and needed pins inserted. I think I will take the broken hand and the pins and not the death. Airbags save lives. Anything else is pure crap.
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Moofie 11:19PM (12/26/2005)
"Airbags save lives. Anything else is pure crap."
No, anything else is data, that may or may not bear out your emotional anecdote.
The question is, do airbags save the lives of people who use their seatbelts? I'd like to be able to make that determination, and decide whether I think the risks of airbags are offset by their advantages.
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Glenn Laycock 12:44AM (12/27/2005)
Air Bags are a huge safety feature; people who disconnect them have not driven or been in accidents (unless being thrown clear is considered a better choice).
Air Bags do more then just save lives. They reduce the severity of the injuries, especially facial and upper body .. you know the pictures they drove into us (no pun) at driving school where they show you what people's faces look like that went through the windshield (and the pigs after they were put through a crash -- they probably are not used anymore with animals rights). Anyway, air bags really lower those cut and laceration type of injuries.
Submarining has been well documents and knee bolsters have been around for quite awhile; but they do need more leg protection in cars now that the upper body is being so well protected.
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Carlos 1:46AM (12/27/2005)
So it's a choice. Save your leg, or save your head?
Interestingly, Citroen is starting to make airbags that'll be safer against arms and legs.
The only way to do that is to have a non-circular bag. Which means an airbag container that doesn't rotate along with the steering wheel. The Citroen C4 has a steering wheel that rotates while its hub doesn't. Pretty cool stuff!
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G 5:40AM (12/27/2005)
Gee, airbags don't protect your legs? whod've thought? The reason people are sustaining more leg injuries is because they are living through crashes they wouldn't have otherwise. JUST LIKE THE RESEARCHERS THOUGHT! You'd have to be acting dense on purpose to suggest that the data could mean airbags increase injuries. I can't wait until weblogs starts a defense blog-
"Extremity wounds by far the most common in Iraq. Could body armor actually increase the likelyhood of injury in being blown up?"
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Rene Curry 6:30AM (12/27/2005)
I have read that they could design airbags to be more effective if designed in conjunction with seat belt use. But they must also design airbags for the fools that do not use a seat belt. We can blame the lawyers for that.
Please pile on if you have more information.
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Richard Warren 10:07AM (12/27/2005)
In our overly safety awareness society it's interesting to hear about airbags being a problem. If everyone used seatbelts I'd be willing to bet that the record would be about the same with or without airbags.
It's also interesting that we are so in need of a safety net always around us, yet, many pay little attention to driving as we cellphone, apply makeup, drink, eat exceed the speed limit on a regular basis.
Also of note that a true national driving test similar to other countries that really teaches driving could cut deaths also, but not much interest there.
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DriftPunch 11:44AM (12/27/2005)
The only way that conclusion would be valid is if they tracked whether or not the leg area of the interior had been damaged or not. If they could restrict the analysis to those accidents that had no breech, then the statistic would be very interesting. If they cannot do that, the caveat he mentions (severity) causes the whole thing to be in doubt, as you can be sure your airbag will go off if an accident is severe enough to start folding up the interior.
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Mark Weber 12:13PM (12/27/2005)
The comments today are more useful than the skinny amount of information provided in the link. For example, in the McCleans article, there was no indication whether submarining under the airbag is a problem when seatbelts are in use. Also whether submarining is a problem more with older cars than newer cars, which began designing knee-blockers under the dash or as part of the dash (of course to be more effective, you can't be too far from the dash).
However, now it makes sense why DC has introduced knee-blocking airbags on the minivans and PT Cruiser.
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Nathan Jones 1:42PM (12/27/2005)
Interesting choice of photo to go along with your piece....
NJ
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