In theory, an air bag is supposed to be fully inflated before the passenger falls into it during a crash event.  In practice, however, an air bag, which can travel at speeds up to 200 mph, often hits the occupant forcefully prior to full inflation.  An example is the 1994 Nissan Altima, which has blinded or significantly visually impaired at least 30 passengers: 

What follows is a general discussion of air bag related issues.  These materials are intended to be informative and interesting.  However, we encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.  We have considerable experience representing victims of badly designed air bags.  You can contact us at no charge by using our toll-free number or by e-mail.  You can also learn more about us by visiting our web page. 

How An Air Bag Works

An air bag inflates, or deploys, quickly -- faster than the blink of an eye.  Imagine taking a one second unit of time and splitting it into one thousand parts.  In the first 15 to 20 milliseconds, air bag sensors are designed to detect the crash and then send an electrical signal to fire the air bags.  Typically a squib, which is a small explosive device, ignites a propellant, usually sodium azide.  The azide burns with tremendous speed, generating nitrogen, which inflates the air bags.  Within 45 to 55 milliseconds the air bag is supposed to be fully inflated.  Within 75 to 80 milliseconds, the air bag is deflated and the event is over. 

The speed with which this process occurs generates tremendous forces.  An air bag can deploy at speeds up to 200 mph.  Passengers in the way of a deploying air bag can either be killed or significantly injured. 

History of Air Bags 

Air bag patents go back to the 1950s.  In the 1970s, both General Motors and Ford placed air bags into a small fleet of automobiles.  Generally, the air bags performed well.  Only one death was attributed to the air bags and, even in that instance, there was a question as to whether the air bag was the cause of injury.  Surprisingly, these 1970s air bags were in many respects more advanced than ones used in the 1990s.  They used adjustable inflators, which are only now coming back into use.  (See Safer Air Bags below.)  Throughout the 1980s, manufacturers resisted implementing air bags.  They did not feel that safety sold vehicles and were worried about costs.   They told the government that air bags would kill occupants, especially children.  An entire decade of opportunity to research and develop was lost. 

Then, in the late 1980s, Chrysler reversed itself and started implementing air bags.  Lee Iaccoca went on television in the early 1990s and told the public he was wrong and that air bags save lives.  The race was on.  Manufacturers were concerned that they would lose sales if they did not have air bags.  By 1992, most manufacturers had air bags on the driver side and by the mid-l990s most had air bags on the passenger side as well.  TV advertisements showed these air bags to deploy in a soft billowing fashion. 

Slowly, the terrible truth about air bags began to emerge.  The dire predictions of the manufacturers to the government in the 1980s, but concealed from the public in the 1990s, proved true.  Air bags were, indeed, killing occupants, especially children and women.  By late 1996, the government and manufacturers were compelled to publicly announce that air bags were dangerous. 

Auto Manufacturers’ Negligence

Manufacturers have only themselves to blame for the dangerousness of air bags.  In the rush to install air bags, adequate testing was sacrificed.  Typically, manufacturers were content to install an air bag if it met one and only one qualification: compliance with a government regulation known as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.  This standard required that manufacturers certify their air bags would not inflict certain “injuries” to a 5’9” dummy (both belted and unbelted) in a crash test into a solid barrier at speeds up to 30 mph and frontal angles up to 30 degrees. 

The problem with the manufacturers’ approach is that the regulation, by its own language, is a “minimum” standard.  Repeatedly, the government warned manufacturers that FMVSS 208 did not mandate any particular design.  Manufacturers were encouraged to do full testing and to implement designs that would reduce the dangers associated with air bags. 

For years, automobile engineers recommended that manufacturers do more than test vehicles with 5’9” dummies with the seat positioned in the middle of the seat track.  Cars are occupied not just by average sized male adults, but by women and children too.  Further, occupants do not always sit with their seat back and children, in particular, will wiggle out of seat belts and be close to the dashboard during deployments.  Manufacturers were encouraged to test their vehicles with women and children dummies and to do so-called “out-of-position” testing.  Largely, manufacturers simply ignored this advice, wishing to place profits far ahead of safety. 

Safer Air Bags 

Today, there is a rush to design “smart” air bags.  However, virtually all of the proposed solutions have, in fact, been either used in a small number of vehicles or are technologically feasible.  Safer air bag designs include the following: 

1.     Higher deployment thresholds.  Most air bags are set to deploy in crashes between 6 and 12 miles per hour.  This is far too low.  Numerous studies have shown that an air bag is not needed unless a crash is at least 18 mph.  BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo have long had systems that deploy an air bag at 18 mph if the occupant is seat belted. 

2.     Less aggressive air bags.  In 1998, with the urging of the government and the public, manufacturers introduced so-called “second generation” air bags.  To the public, this sounded like a new design.  In fact, all that manufacturers did was to use less propellant in their design.  That is, they simply reduced the amount of propellant.  Virtually nothing else changed.  Tests showed that these depowered bags still passed FMVSS 208.  Nothing prevented manufacturers from utilizing these less aggressive air bags from the beginning. 

3.     Tethers.  Tethers are internal straps that cost about $3.00.  They hold the air bag back from intruding too far into the occupant compartment.  Tethers are an easy fix, yet many air bags do not have them.