Abstract
This article reviews the benefits of introducing car airbags with reduced inflation forces. Since the 1998 model year, when depowering began, the number of airbag-related deaths in crashes has decreased steadily. Factors in this decrease include educating drivers to sit further back from the steering wheel, increased belt use and education to ensure that children travel in the back seats. Recent studies indicated that reduced-power airbags in newer vehicles provided as much protection as high-powered ones in high-speed crashes but were not so risky for out-of-position occupants. Moderate and severe injuries were reduced at all speeds.