THE EFFECT OF AIRBAGS ON INJURIES AND ACCIDENT COSTS

Earlier studies carried out by the GDV clearly confirmed the protective action of the front airbag as a restraint system in addition to the three-point seat belt - primarily for the driver. The present paper focuses in particular with "airbag problems", i.e. "injuries caused by the airbag", "airbag activation while the vehicle is stopped", "airbag activation while driving" and "no airbag activation despite high accident severity". The last problem cases involved traffic fatalities. Moreover, the topic of "airbag and the cost of repair work" is also discussed. The problem cases that are described in this paper demonstrate that the airbag itself, its components, its activation behavior, its activation threshold and the activation safety must still be optimized. Raising the activation threshold to approx. 25-30 km/h, i.e. coordinating the activation threshold to the belted passengers, would not only reduce the danger of injury caused by the airbag itself, but would also lead to a reduction of the costs for repair work. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102514.