Side Airbags Can Save Your Life in a Side Impact Car Crash

A tragic 2-car side impact collision in NW Harris County that claimed two young lives, a mother and her daughter, had us thinking about side impact airbags. Side impact collisions like this one cause more injuries and fatalities than other types of car wrecks because the crush zone (the area between the outside of the vehicle and the inside of the passenger compartment) is smaller than for head-on and rear collisions. Data shows that side impact crashes like the collision in NW Harris County are 3 times more likely to cause traumatic brain injuries than other types of wrecks. Approximately 60% of victims injured in side impact crashes receive traumatic brain injuries.

About 10,000 people die in side impact crashes each year in the United States. Many of these impacts end as rollover wrecks. Advocates tout side airbags for their particular effectiveness in preventing injuries and deaths in rollover wrecks. This is because the airbags keep the occupants inside the vehicle. And 75% of deaths from rollover wrecks occur when a passenger or driver is ejected from the car during a crash.

We could point out that wearing seatbelts will usually accomplish the same goal of keeping passengers and drivers inside a car during a rollover. We have also pointed out time and again that wearing motorcycle helmets will prevent many injuries and fatalities from motorcycle wrecks. But riders continue to ride without helmets. And, we suspect, car passengers and drivers will continue to similarly ride without seatbelts.

The NHTSA announced in January 2011 that it would soon begin requiring side airbags in cars as standard safety restraint equipment. This announcement has generated some controversy. Some car enthusiasts call the requirements nonsense and claim that they're just another way to make our cars more expensive. Current estimates project that the new NHTSA requirement will cost about $31 per vehicle. Of course, costs tend to inflate grossly once something actually begins to get implemented. But even if you multiply the estimate by 10, the added cost still remains small in light of the proven effectiveness of side airbags in reducing injuries and fatalities in a car crash. Crash tests and real life studies all indicate that side airbags should save numerous lives.