Second generation air bags safer for kids, still safe for adults
Reuters reports that second-generation air bags are less risky for children while still providing appropriate levels of safety for larger adults. The development is a vast improvement upon earlier generation air bags, which were developed to protect an average size male and could be lethal for smaller adults and children.
When cars were equipped with the second-generation air bag in 1998, critics voiced fears that making air bags safer for smaller people necessarily increased risks for larger people. However, data recently gathered in a University of Washington study shows these fears to be unfounded. The second-generation air bags, which deploy with less force and provide other advancements, provide just 10 percent higher risk of death in children over no air bag compared to 66 percent more risk with first-generation air bags.
The moral of the story? Kid-safer air bags aren't offset by higher risk to larger adults.
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Will 7:08PM (7/12/2006)
Can I look on truedelta.com and see which cars are best at killing kids?
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CrunchyCookie 12:46PM (7/13/2006)
Is there any site out there that tells you at what point cars switched to depowered bags (if ever) and when they switched to dual-stage? The transition wasn't even consistent within automakers, i.e. the 98 Altima and Sentra switched but the Maxima didn't.
Does everyone now use dual-stage airbags?
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Tom Design 6:45PM (7/13/2006)
I read somewhere that the Buick Lucerne has an even better version of the 2nd Gen airbag, the safest in any 2006 auto. This is a big claim when Mercedes and Volvo put so much into their safety promotion. Does anyone know how the Buick system works?
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