Airbags in the United States and Australia are fundamentally different. In the U.S., airbags are designed as primary restraints to protect unbelted occupants while those in Australia are designed as supplementary to the seatbelt. The deployment thresholds, power, and velocity of deployment therefore differ. Using a cohort comparison method, this study set out to determine if the injury patterns of belted and unbelted drivers in airbag deployed crashes were different in the U.S. and Australia. The study focused only on intermediate and full-size passenger vehicles to allow comparability between popular Australian and U.S. vehicles. The results suggest that U.S. belted and unbelted drivers tend to suffer a higher percentage of injuries to the face, thorax, and upper extremity as a result of airbag contact compared with the Australian sample. In addition, unbelted U.S. drivers appeared to suffer a higher percentage of head and facial injuries from non-airbag contact sources than the U.S. belted and Australian samples. (A)
Abstract