The two types of airbags are Frontal Air Bags and Side Air Bags.1 Frontal air bags are housed in the main dash of the car and steering wheel. Upon impact to the proper sensor area, they are designed to protect the front seat passengers in the event of a moderate to severe frontal crash. Frontal air bags are designed to work in conjunction with a seat belt.2
There are three main types of Side Air Bags: Chest/ Torso SABs, Head SABs, and Head/Chest Combination (“combo”) SABs available in vehicles. The Chest SABs are mounted in the side of the seat back or in the door of the vehicle. They are designed to help protect an adult’s chest in a serious side-impact crash.3 Head SABs are separated into curtain SABs and tubular SABs. Curtain SABs are designed to protect the front and back passengers in side-impact crashes and may have the feature enabling them to stay inflated long enough to protect them from ejection in a roll over crash.3 The combination SABs are designed to deploy from the side of the seat and protect both the head and the chest by its larger size.3
There is a sensor in each car that activates when it thinks a crash is severe enough to merit the use of an airbag. These sensors deploy in as little as a fraction of a second once, triggered. The airbag, type of airbag, place of housing/deployment, duration of inflation, and other factors differ from car to car.
In 1998, the government mandated that all passenger cars must have frontal air bags and as of 1999, all SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans have been required to have the same. Since that requirement, in 2007, all light vehicles have advanced frontal air bags. SABs are not required yet, but are a standard for many auto manufacturers.4 To check the types of air bags your car is equipped with, the following site is a good starting point. Click here to check your car’s safety features. Your owner’s manual should give a detailed account of the features included as well.
Even with all of the options that manufacturers have to choose from in protecting their consumers, there are still problems with airbags. These air bags, especially the frontal ones, have been warned against in seats that children sit in. Air bags have proven to have the possibility of fatal or injurious consequences. There are also concerns about the speed at which they deploy and the chemicals used to explosively inflate. There are a number of air bag recalls in recent years that affect a large number of cars. These, among others, are reasons to know what equipment your car has and what you can do if you were injured by the deployment of an air bag.
Written by:
Lyndsey Mott
Watts Guerra LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
(210)447-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
1http://www.safercar.gov/Air%20Bags
2http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle%20Shoppers/Air%20Bags/Air%20Bag%20Type%20-%20Frontal
3http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle%20Shoppers/Air%20Bags/Side-Impact%20Air%20Bags%20(SABs)
4http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle%20Shoppers/Air%20Bags/General%20Information%20-%20SAB
5 http://www.autos.com/driving-and-safety/the-dangers-of-car-airbags
