Safety Tips For Front Car Airbags

Frontal-impact airbag technology is getting a lot more advanced. Some people take for granted air bags in todays automobiles. But todays frontal airbags has radically changed since the year they became a federally required safety features in automobiles.

Depending on the age and brand of the automobile, airbags have different features and designs as we all know, it can cause danger to children if he or she sitting in front of the car.

Starting on 2006 year model, all passenger cars and light trucks must be equipped with sensors that identify children's weight and sitting position so that it could deploy the airbags with less force or none at all. Some auto manufacturers have taken things a step further by designing airbag system that not only change the force that the airbag deploys but also the size and shape of the airbag according to its passenger's form.

Risk for kids
Experts say that the safest place in the car for a child under 12 is at the backseat. But still some adults take it for granted and they let children seat in the front seat. So they set out to study the potential injury to a child or small adult when an airbag deploys. And after the research, they have concluded that airbags in older vehicles pose the higher risk. A recent study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children had a 14.9 percent chance of serious injury from airbag deployment in a 1997 model year vehicle or older, versus a 9.9 percent risk in a vehicle from the 1998 to 2001 model years. Later-model vehicles were not studied.

The older model vehicles came with the first generation airbags which study shows could harm and even kill children and very small adults specially those not wearing seat belts due to the extreme force in which the airbags deployed.

After seeing the increasing number of fatalities due to airbags, Government regulators changed the airbag requirements that allow "depowered" airbags. Auto manufacturers were able to reduce to the deployment force of the airbags while still providing additional protection in a crash.

Size matters
For vehicles with 2006 model year, a new design of frontal airbags have been introduced. This type of airbags does not only deploy with less force but in a smaller size depending on the size and the location of an occupant.

Some manufactures have developed a twin-chamber airbag in the front passenger position. It deploys in a way that creates a depression in the airbag's center dispersing the energy throughout the occupant's upper body.

The airbag future
Today, automakers adopt technology in airbag designs and we can be sure of more advance technology in the future. Soon, we will be able to rely fully on airbags without the injury that somehow it gives. With ultra modern technology, airbags will soon be one of the most reliable device inside your car.