2134/12110
Andrew Morris
Andrew
Morris
Jo Barnes
Jo
Barnes
Brian Fildes
Brian
Fildes
The effectiveness of airbags in Australia as determined by in-depth crash injury research
Loughborough University
2013
untagged
Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified
2013-04-12 10:04:36
Conference contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/conference_contribution/The_effectiveness_of_airbags_in_Australia_as_determined_by_in-depth_crash_injury_research/9338033
This study presents some results from a case-control
study of crashed vehicles equipped with Australian
airbag technology (Supplementary Restraint
Systems). Vehicles were inspected and occupants
interviewed according to the National Accident
Sampling System (NASS). Data were available for
383 belted drivers involved in frontal crashes
including 253 drivers in airbag-equipped vehicles and
130 drivers in non-airbag vehicles. The analysis
revealed reductions in the numbers of injuries to the
head, face chest and neck in the airbag-equipped
vehicles although the numbers of upper extremity
injuries increased. At higher injury severities
(AIS2+) reductions were also observed in injuries to
the head, face, neck and chest. Further analysis using
Harm as an outcome measure found that the mean
Harm per driver (in terms of $AUD) were 60%
greater in the non-airbag vehicles compared with the
airbag-equipped vehicles. Thus airbags in Australia
would appear to offer a significant saving in terms of
costs to society.
In general, the main conclusion from the study was
that the results offer a strong indication that the
Australian Design Rule (ADR) 69 requirement has
been successful at addressing some of the outstanding
issues that remain for injury prevention for drivers
involved in frontal impacts.