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Air bags

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over 107 million (52%) of the over 207 million cars and light trucks on U.S. roads have driver air bags.

More than 81 million (39.4%) of these also have passenger air bags. Another one million new vehicles are being sold each month.

By law, beginning with model year 1998, all new passenger cars were required to have driver and passenger air bags and safety belts. Light trucks were subject to the same requirement beginning as of the 1999 model year.

They save lives and reduce injury

Air bags, combined with lap/shoulder safety belts, offer the most effective protection available today for motor vehicle passengers. An estimated 1263 lives were saved by air bags in 1999 alone according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

NHTSA estimates that the combination of an air bag in addition to a lap and shoulder belt reduces the risk of serious head injury by 81%, compared with 60% reduction for seat belts alone.

Unfortunately there have also been some fatalities involving air bag deployment.

Most of these deaths could have been prevented if the occupants had been wearing a safety belt, and if children age 12 and under had been properly restrained in the back seat by a child safety seat, booster seat, or seat belt.

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Questions about the content of this page:
Tom Knoop, thomas.knoop@dot.state.wi.us
Last modified: December 8, 2006