A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety raises questions about the safety of the newest type of airbag, required in all vehicles in 2008 and around as early as 2004. The new airbag may actually place drivers who wear their seat belts at a greater risk of death, the study says.
A statistical analysis of 3,600 deaths of driver and front-seat passengers involved in frontal crashes between 2004 and 2007 found that while the newest airbags helped unbelted people just the same as older airbags, belted drivers had a 21% greater chance of dying.
The study did not try to explain why belted drivers are at greater risk, but safety experts have offered a few ideas. Chief among them is that automakers are still compelled to crash-test for unbelted drivers, which means they are designing airbags with those people in mind, even though 80% of drivers wear seat belts.
This data could illustrate why requiring automakers to test unbelted dummies forces a trade-off for belted occupants. Seat belts remain the most surefire way to avoid death or grave injury when involved in a car accident.
Officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration met with automakers and researchers in March after the study came out but have not commented. More research is likely needed to determine what factors put belted drivers at greater risk with the newest airbags.
