This paper describes some accidents involving airbag-equipped cars, in which the driver or the front passenger sustained severe or fatal lesions without severe intrusion of the passenger compartment. Two fatal cases regard drivers, with immediate or delayed exitus. One case regards an unrestrained passenger that was found dead at the scene. Postmortem data were available for two of the fatal cases; there is strong suggestion that the described lesions have been produced by airbags themselves. The data suggest that the airbag alone may not be able to prevent violent contact with the lower part of the steering wheel rim, and that airbag deployment may be dramatically dangerous if the seat belts are not worn. The last assertion is categoric especially for the right passenger, whose body may more easily be displaced within the air bag inflation area during the braking phase that often precedes the impact. Standard crash test do not foresee that a vehicle might be decelerating before the impact, nor that the space between passenger thorax and airbag surface could not be completely free. It seems that also the testing procedures ought to be trimmed in order to detect chances of out-of-position and therefore prevent potentially fatal outcome. (A)
Abstract