As of April 15, 1997, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has documented a total of 63 fatalities of automotive occupants attributed to airbag deployment. This paper summarizes the serious and fatal injuries sustained by both children and adults as a result of this airbag interaction. It is important to realize that the cases discussed in this paper represent a very small percentage of the total number of airbag deployments.

Injury patterns are identified and primary mechanisms proposed for each pattern. Three distinct injury patterns are discussed for adults, and two patterns for children. Biomechanical differences between adults and children are discussed with respect to the resulting injuries.

Primary injury mechanisms are proposed based on information collected from a number of different sources. Analytical modeling was used, along with documented occupant contact points within the vehicle interior, to predict occupant kinematics and timing with respect to airbag deployment. Experimental testing with anthropomorphic test dummies provided valuable information on the magnitude and direction of loads delivered by the deploying airbag to an out-of-position occupant. All of this information, along with biomechanical expertise and existing injury tolerance data, were used to develop the proposed injury mechanisms.