The main problem with American air bags are that they have to (by law passed in 1984) be designed to work with people not wearing seat belts (unlike Europe)[1].

The main problem with American air bags are that they have to (by law passed in 1984) be designed to work with people not wearing seat belts (unlike Europe)[1]. This means they more dangerous than European ones because they are bigger and must deploy much more explosively. This law is unlikely to be changed for many reasons with the most important one likely being that some car companies like expensive, unique requirements that segment markets and produce barriers to competition. [1]http://carcynic.com/archives/00000006.html http://carcynic.com/archives/00000006.html