Passenger air bags experienced considerable design modification in the late 1990s, principally to mitigate risks to child passengers. This study utilized data from the Partners for Child Passenger Safety study, a large-scale child-focused crash surveillance system, to examine the effect of vehicle type on the differential performance of first and second generation air bags on injuries to restrained children in frontal impact crashes. The results show that the benefit of second-generation air bags was seen in passenger cars--those children exposed to second-generation air bags were half as likely to sustain a serious injury--and minivans. However, in sport utility vehicles the data suggest no reduction in injury risk with the new designs. The field data provide crucial real-world experience to the automotive industry as it works toward the next generation of air bag designs.
Samenvatting