A review of driver airbag deployments in Europe and Japan to date

Morris, Andrew P.; Thomas, Pete; Brett, Martin; Bruno-Foret, Jean-Yves; Thomas, Christian; Otte, Dietmar; Ono, Koshiro

Affiliations

¹Vehicle Safety Research Centre Loughborough University

²Transport Research Laboratory, United Kingdom

³Laboratoire d’Accidentologie et de Biomecanique PSA Peugeot-Citroen/Renault, France

⁴Medical University of Hannover, Germany

⁵Japan Automobile Research Institute, Japan

Abstract

This study examines data from 186 crash-damaged Vehicles in Europe and Japan fitted with driver airbags. There were 130 cases of airbag deployment in the Vehicles 97 of which were in single-impact frontal crashes. The majority of drivers in these impacts sustained AIS 1 injuries with the head/face being the most commonly injured body region. Some AIS 2+ injuries occurred to the head/face but these almost always occurred when the optimum occupant protection circumstances Were compromised in some Way. The most common site of AIS 2+ injuries was the lower limb followed by the upper limb. 12 out of 14 AIS 2+ injuries to the upper limb occurred in Vehicles Whose airbag deployed. Slight differences were observed in injury outcomes when a differentiation was made between airbag sizes although this may have been a function of sample size. Overall encouraging results are apparent. However, this is a preliminary survey. Follow-up studies with more data are clearly the next stage if a comprehensive overview ofthe real-World performance of airbags is to be attained.

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Cited By (9)

Year	Entry
1998	Lenard J, Frampton R, Thomas P. The influence of European air bags on crash injury outcomes. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.972-982.
1998	Morris A, Fildes B. Preliminary experience of passenger airbag deployments in Australia. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1122-1125.
2001	Morris A, Barnes J, Fildes B. The effectiveness of airbags in Australia as determined by in-depth crash injury research. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2001	Morris A, Barnes J, Fildes B. A preliminary evaluation of passenger airbag effectiveness in Australia. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2011	Dávila A, Nombela M. Research on airbag related injuries. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
1999	Canaple B, Cesari D, Drazetic P. Identification of head injury mechanisms associated with reconstruction of traffic accidents. In: Proceedings of the 1999 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 23-24, 1999; Sitges, Spain.37-51.
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1999	Deery HA, Morris AP, Fildes BN, Newstead SV. Airbag technology in Australian passenger cars: preliminary results from real world crash investigations. J Crash Prev Injury Control. 1999;1(2):121-128.