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Study: Side air bags save lives in crashes

DETROIT, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Side air bags in passenger cars can reduce the chances of dying in a side-impact crash by as much as 45 percent, according to an insurance industry study released on Tuesday.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said its study was the first to show how effectively side air bags protected occupants in crashes. With 9,000 deaths a year in side-impact crashes, the institute predicted the death toll would fall as more vehicles are sold with side air bags.

The institute's study said side air bags designed to protect a passenger's head were the most effective, while those that just protected the passenger's torso reduced the risk of dying in a crash by about 11 percent.

"Before head-protecting air bags were available there was virtually nothing to prevent people's heads from being struck by intruding vehicles or rigid objects like trees and poles in serious side impact crashes," institute president Brian O'Neill said in a statement. "Now we know side air bags can change this and do a good job of protecting heads."

Side air bags are optional equipment on about 40 percent of vehicles, and roughly a third of all vehicles sold in the United States this year will have them.

The study looked at federal data from crashes between 1999 and 2001 in cars from model years 1997 through 2002. Trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles were not studied because most did not offer side air bags yet.

Head-protecting air bags reduced fatalities regardless of gender or age, and worked as well in two-door cars as they did in four-door vehicles. The institute said those air bags also appeared to help reduce fatalities in cars hit by SUVs or pickup trucks.