Minimizing the injury potential of the interactions between deploying airbags and car occupants is the major issue with the design of airbag systems. This concern was identified in 1964 by Carl Clark when he presented the results of human volunteer and dummy testing of the “Airstop” system that was being developed for aircraft. The following is a chronological summary of the actions taken by the car manufacturers, airbag suppliers, SAE and ISO task groups, research institutes and universities, and consumer and government groups to address this issue.
Keywords:
airbags, inflation induced injury, out-of-position tests, injury assessment reference values