Citation

Ahmad Z. Inj. Extra 2011; 42(6): 69-70.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

16/j.injury.2011.03.015

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since its invention by American inventor John W. Hetrick and subsequent modification by David S. Breed in 1952 and 1967, respectively, the airbag revolutionized car safety in the 1970s.11 Initially sold to Chrysler (Chrysler LLC, Detroit, Michigan) other car manufacturers including Ford and General Motors designed and adapted the initial concept of air cushions to improve passenger safety in the automobile. In 1980s airbags were introduced to Europe and by the mid-1990s most manufacturers augmented car safety by using an air cushion-based impact reduction system.9

Car occupants form 64% of all road casualties. According to US government statistics about 3.3 million air bag deployments have occurred; more than 6377 lives have been saved and countless injuries prevented.5 In the UK in 2006 171,000 people were killed or injured whilst traveling in cars. Of these 150,707 (88%) were drivers or front seat passengers.1 Although airbags have key role to play in preventing injuries and deaths in road-traffic collisions, the injuries they cause cannot be overlooked. A search in PubMed revealed 602 citations when MeSH terms ‘airbag + injury’ were combined.8 Injuries ranging from burns and ocular injuries to major neurosurgical, vascular, thoracic and abdominal catastrophes have been described. In order to appreciate the damaging potential airbags have, it is important to understand how airbag deployment occurs, and which mechanisms are responsible for these injuries.