By:  Brooke Kopanski, Case Manager, Ledger & Associates

Tell someone you’ve been in an auto accident and their response is likely to be “Did your air bags deploy?” Don’t take this to mean that that person doesn’t care about your well being or the fact that your beloved vehicle is damaged. We have been conditioned by years of evening news reports featuring images of crash test dummies being saved by cloud-like air bags to believe that any front-end collision should result in the deployment of the vehicle’s air bags. Car experts say that consumers have many misconceptions about air bags. Specifically, they say consumers don’t understand:

• Air bags are not designed to deploy in every accident;

• Certain criteria — or deployment thresholds — must be met for airbags to deploy;

• A totaled vehicle is not an indicator of whether an airbag should deploy;

• Air bags are a supplemental restraint system. They are not designed to replace seat belts.[1]

Air Bags Are Not Designed to Deploy in Every Accident

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration[2] and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety[3], not all front-end collisions are appropriate for airbag deployment. Frontal airbags are designed to protect the occupants’ heads and chests from hitting the steering wheel, instrument panel, or windshield. They are not designed to deploy in side impact, rear impact or rollover crashes. Since air bags deploy only once and deflate quickly after the initial impact, they will not be beneficial during a subsequent collision. Safety belts help reduce the risk of injury in many types of crashes. They help to properly position occupants to maximize the air bag’s benefits and they help restrain occupants during the initial and any following collisions.

Deployment Thresholds Must Be Met for Air Bags to Deploy

Frontal airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal crashes. The “must deploy” threshold for belted occupants is 16 mph. At these moderate speeds, the belts alone are likely to provide adequate protection to the vehicle’s occupants.[4]

Even if your collision occurred at a speed greater than 16 mph, your airbag may have properly remained in your steering column. Your car is equipped with sensors that determine the rate of your vehicle’s deceleration, your size and location in the vehicle, and whether your seatbelt is in use. Airbag deployment tests performed by auto makers and various regulatory organizations are often simulations of full frontal collisions into barriers. However, in real-world situations, a collision is rarely ever straight on, but usually occurs at an angle. Consequently, the relative speed between a striking and struck vehicle required to deploy the air bag in a real-world crash can be much higher than an equivalent barrier test crash[5].

A Totaled Vehicle Is Not An Indicator of Whether An Air Bag Should Deploy

Damage to your vehicle is not a good way to gauge whether the air bag should have deployed in your collision. Your vehicle is made to crush, or crumple, to protect you. The idea is to minimize the force on your body and absorb energy efficiently so that when you hit something, the structure crushes as evenly as possible.[6] The terms “totaled” or “total loss” are used by the insurance industry to determine the value of a vehicle. In most states, a car is deemed a “total loss” if the cost of repairing the vehicle is 51% or more of the vehicle’s pre-accident value.

Air Bags Supplement Seat Belts

Car experts say some consumers have the dangerous misconception that their air bags give them so much protection they don’t need to wear their seat belts. That’s a false — and potentially deadly — notion. Your seat belts and your air bags work in unison – seat belts hold you in the proper position, which is critical for the air bags to do their job. [7] Unbelted or improperly belted occupants can come into contact with the air bag module during pre-crash braking. Being near or against an air bag module when it deploys can result in serious or fatal injury.[8]

Air bags must inflate very rapidly to be effective, and therefore come out of the steering column or instrument panel with considerable force and generally at a speed over 100 mph. Because of this initial force, contact with a deploying air bag may cause injury. These air bag contact injuries, when they occur, are typically very minor abrasions or burns. More serious injuries are rare; however, serious or even fatal injuries can occur when someone is very close to, or in direct contact with an air bag module when the air bag deploys. Such injuries may be sustained by unconscious drivers who are slumped over the steering wheel, unrestrained or improperly restrained occupants who slide forward in the seat during pre-crash braking, and even properly restrained drivers who sit very close to the steering wheel.

Faulty and Defective Air Bags

This is not to say that there haven’t been cases where the airbag should have deployed but failed to do so. The NHTSA has recalled several vehicles because “some frontal airbags may not inflate properly and in the event of a crash, the passenger may not be adequately restrained, increasing the risk of personal injury.”[9] If you believe that your airbag should have deployed but failed to do so, please contact our office.

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[1] http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/airbags/airbags_new_cars.html

[2] http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/airbags/airbags03/page3.html

[3] http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/airbags.html

[4] http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/airbags.html

[5] http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/airbags/airbags03/images/Air%20Bags0307.pdf

[6] http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/airbags/airbags_new_cars.html

[7] http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/airbags/airbags_new_cars.html

[8] http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/airbags/airbags03/images/Air%20Bags0307.pdf

[9] http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/airbags/airbags_new_cars.html