When airbags first came out several car companies saw fit to demonstrate them to us, the motoring press. I remember one junior public relations type who gamely climbed once again behind the wheel of a stationary car to play guinea pig for our edification. There was a quiver on his lip, and a hint of trepidation in his eyes.
He knew that when his boss activated the remote triggering device it would not be a mushy balloon blooming in slow motion out of the steering wheel into his face. And it wasn't. It went off with a startling bang that made us jump. In an eye-blink the bag burst from the wheel, inflated, deflated, and left ringing ears and a choking miasma of powder behind.
At the microphone the boss went on about the lives these airbags would save, but my eye caught the expression of the underling at the wheel, his face reddened some by the blow from the now limp bag sagging before him. As I fanned the acrid dust, I thought: "This can't be a totally benign invention."
Now we are seeing how mixed a blessing these airbags are. Promoted by the over-zealous who saw cars strictly as necessary though evil devices of transportation (counter to those of us who saw them as objects for pleasure and sport as well), airbags were at first touted as a substitute for seat belts. Not everyone was using seat belts. Therefore, thought the Safety Pushers, something had to be done to protect those who refused to protect themselves.
Prior to the airbag, the safety lobby had promoted the draconian interlock system, which prevented a car from starting unless the seat belt was fastened. This Big Brother measure was doomed to fail — and it did.
Next came the mandate for airbags, although it was immediately obvious that airbags alone were not enough. That's why airbags came with an "SRS", for Supplemental Restraint System when they arrived. From the beginning, they were meant to be used in conjunction with seat belts. And therein lies the problem. People still had to actively fasten a seat belt to gain the full protection afforded by the airbags.
So in an effort to protect those who would not protect themselves, the Safety Pushers yielded to their "we-know-more-than-you-know" attitude which planted the seeds which resulted in the current harvest of calamity. Thanks to their superior lobby efforts, they convinced regulators that airbags must deploy quickly enough and with enough force to protect an unbelted adult male — and thus it was decreed. That has proven to be a force that can also kill children and small adults — and has.
Now those same Safety Pushers are justifying their mistake by say: "Well, airbags are like vaccines, a few will perhaps die but many will be saved through the use of air bags."
However, that is not necessarily the choice. Clearly the decision to protect large adult males who are either too macho or too stupid to fasten a seat belt has needlessly endangered infants, children and small adults — mostly women.
Those are the ones who must be considered as the airbag problem is faced once again by the regulators. It is important to note here that though many of the children killed by airbag deployment were properly restrained in infant seats or with seat belts, most of those killed — including the adults — were not. We are still not doing all we can to protect ourselves or those in our charge.
Auto makers are now with government approval installing airbags which deploy more slowly and with less explosive force — in short a true supplemental system to seat belts. They are also developing the so-called "smart seat" in which sensors switch off the airbag if the occupant is small and light. Also approved are shut-off switches for passenger airbags in pick-up trucks which have no back seats.
The fact that consumer confidence in airbags has dropped precipitously was made clear by a recent survey. Public opinion in favor of airbags dropped from 81 percent to around 50 percent If airbags were an option rather than a requirement, the survey shows that many new cars would be sold without airbags. Indeed, many buyers are seeking out late-model used cars, which have no passenger-side bags.
Perhaps once again overreaction reigns. First on the part of the Safety Pushers — now on the part of the public. To be at your safest in a car, drive one equipped with airbags; always use seat belts whenever in a car, put children in the rear seat only (properly restrained — never lap belts only), have front seat passengers adjust seats to be as far as possible from the dash where the airbag is stowed.
And drive with skill and attention as, of course, you always do.
© 1998 The Car Connection