The on-road experience of cars equipped with driver airbags indicates that they are very effective in reducing driver deaths and serious injuries in frontal crashes (Ferguson et al., 1995; Lund and Ferguson, 1995; Kahane, 1994; Zador and Ciccone, 1993; O'Neill and Lund, 1992; Highway Loss Data Institute, 1991). This is true for both belted and unbelted drivers. However, until now there has been insufficient experience to estimate the effectiveness of passenger airbags because they are in fewer vehicles - about 22 million cars by the end of 1996 compared with 42 million cars with driver airbags. And in about two-thirds of vehicle trips, the right front seat is unoccupied (Hu and Young, 1993). Statistical evidence on the overall effectiveness of passenger airbags has become extremely important because individual crash investigations show these restraints have caused some deaths. Twenty-four children and infants - 17 children ages 3-9 plus 7 infants - have been killed by passenger airbag deployments in low severity crashes. Almost all of the children were unbelted, and two, according to NHTSA investigators, used only their lap belts. As a result of pre-impact braking, they probably moved forward into close contact with the airbag at the time of deployment, and most died from neck injuries. One elderly female passenger fatality also is believed to have been caused by a passenger airbag. These deaths occurred because the energy required to inflate an airbag in a fraction of a second to protect an occupant in a crash can seriously injure someone, especially a small child, who is very close to the bag as it begins to inflate. With these serious side effects identified, it becomes very important to determine the extent to which passenger airbags are saving lives. This study provides initial estimates of passenger airbag effectiveness using data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS). (A)
Samenvatting