Study Finds Combination Airbags Improve Side-Crash Safety
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program’s chief says the results support the public-private safety partnership’s requirement that vehicles provide head-protecting technology.
Combination airbags result in statistically significant reductions in the risk of death and injury in side-impact crashes, Australian researchers conclude.
A report by Monash University’s Accident Research Center in Melbourne says “combination airbags designed to protect the head, neck, face and thorax are highly effective in reducing injury due to (side-impact) crashes.”
It says the airbags reduced the odds of death and injury by 51% to all body regions; 61% to the head, neck, face and thorax; and 53% to the head, neck and face.
Australasian New Car Assessment Program CEO Nicholas Clarke says the results support the public-private safety partnership’s decision to mandate head-protecting technology (HPT).
“As part of ANCAP safety-rating assessments, side-impact tests and pole tests are conducted to assess the effectiveness of HPT,” Clarke says in a statement.
It is mandatory that a vehicle be fitted with HPT to driver and front passenger seats to achieve the maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating. From 2014, this will also apply to second-row seats.
The research center compiled its report after evaluating injury data by body region available from injury-compensation claims data.
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