5 ms·

EDIT: Oops, I didn't initially notice that the chart in the grandparent post actually lists both airbag and heat fatalities... --- Good question. As of 1996,

by veidr 9y ago

EDIT: Oops, I didn't initially notice that the chart in the grandparent post actually lists both airbag and heat fatalities... --- Good question. As of 1996, it was only 21 total, according to the NY Times[1], but more than half of those were killed in the first 9 months of that year. In 1999, Car and Driver magazine reported a total of 99 child fatalities. So, low "first-few-google-hits" data quality aside, that seems to show a rapidly rising trend[2]. Next, I got to this horrifying article about a University of Georgia study concluding that the government statistics on airbags are wildly wrong and airbags are actually killing us all[3]. (I gave up my research at this point and will sleep better if the next HN reader that comes along with a little time on their hands debunks that as publicity-seeking bad science that's now been discredited...) [1] http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/18/us/more-children-are-killed-by-air-bags-and-parents-are-blamed.html http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/18/us/more-children-are-kille... [2] http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/airbags-kill-more-kids-than-school-shootings http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/airbags-kill-more-kids-t... [3] https://phys.org/news/2005-06-airbags-probability-death-accidents.html https://phys.org/news/2005-06-airbags-probability-death-acci...

veidr 9y ago
An update from my coffee break: Here's an IIHS/HLDI refutation of the study by Mary Meyer and Tremika Finney of the University of Georgia, that I mentioned above: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/41/2/2 http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/41/2/2
u801e 9y ago
> Next, I got to this horrifying article about a University of Georgia study concluding that the government statistics on airbags are wildly wrong and airbags are actually killing us all The hyperbole isn't really necessary. Before "depowered" airbags were allowed by the NHTSA, the standard described in FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) 208 stated that airbags must be able to protect an unbelted 50th percentile sized male in a frontal crash. This required that the airbag deploy at lower collision speeds and with more force than would be necessary with a belted occupant of smaller stature. This lead to injuries and deaths due to airbag deployments in low speed collisions as mentioned in the study. My guess is that the study period was at a time when depowered airbags weren't as common as they are today.

by veidr 9y ago

veidr 9y ago

An update from my coffee break: Here's an IIHS/HLDI refutation of the study by Mary Meyer and Tremika Finney of the University of Georgia, that I mentioned above: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/41/2/2 http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/41/2/2

u801e 9y ago

> Next, I got to this horrifying article about a University of Georgia study concluding that the government statistics on airbags are wildly wrong and airbags are actually killing us all The hyperbole isn't really necessary. Before "depowered" airbags were allowed by the NHTSA, the standard described in FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) 208 stated that airbags must be able to protect an unbelted 50th percentile sized male in a frontal crash. This required that the airbag deploy at lower collision speeds and with more force than would be necessary with a belted occupant of smaller stature. This lead to injuries and deaths due to airbag deployments in low speed collisions as mentioned in the study. My guess is that the study period was at a time when depowered airbags weren't as common as they are today.