The National Center for Statistics and Analysis’s (NCSA) Special Crash Investigations (SCI) program provides the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with an anecdotal data set that allows the agency to analyze in-depth clinical evaluations of real-world crashes that involve new and emerging technologies. One of SCI’s responsibilities is to investigate alleged fatalities that are related to the deployment of air bags in minor to moderate severity crashes. The first part of this paper will compare the number of occupants fatally injured by deploying air bags for either a given model year or a 12-month release period to the number of air-bag-equipped vehicles in the corresponding fleet. In this paper sled-certified air bags with advanced features are defined as air bag systems with one or more advanced occupant protection features such as:​ multi-stage air bag inflators, seat belt sensors, weight sensors, seat position sensors, or automatic suppression systems. The number of fatalities for occupants injured by sled-certified air bags with advanced features will be compared to those injured by air bags without advanced features. Based on our most recent observations the number of fatalities associated with sled-certified air bags with advanced features is lower than that for air bags without advanced features [1]. An overview of the only published air-bag-related fatality attributed to a sled-certified air bag with advanced features will be provided.

NCSA’s National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS CDS) collects data on representative crashes through 27 field research teams who investigate about 4,500 crashes a year. The second part of this paper will analyze SCI and NASS CDS advanced-air-bag data through the end of 2005. A variety of advanced-air-bag-related topics for front-seat occupants will be discussed. Crash severity, occupant seat weight sensors and dual-stage air bag deployments will also be discussed.