There was a thread which contained an exchange about the benefits (or not) of air bags. I can't find it so I am starting afresh, hoping the participants will come here. I had asserted that accident stats prove that deaths are reduced overall. Somebody cited US NHTSA figures. The tone of the response seemed to disagree with me, yet the stats cited were in agreement with me. Somebody mentioned the short-person problem, but I contend, as a short (5' 5") person that I still prefer an airbag to be present. Furthermore, there was a ref to people being killed by air bags. Well, I acknowledge that this may happen, but OVERALL the death rate drops: "From 1986 through April 2001, fewer than 7,000 lives had been saved by air bags. An estimated 246 people (including 61 unconfirmed air bag-related fatalities), mostly drivers and children, had been killed by air bags during the same period." It looks like a found the same source of NHTSA info others were using (one version: http://www.aultman.com/hgcontent.asp?chunkiid=14125) There an NHTSA manager is quoted "They only protect adults in a frontal crash and they don't protect you in side- or rear-impact crashes." This is no longer true as cars have bags at the side and in all kinds of places. http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/159/6/556 The serious-injury risk drops, too: http://www.monash.edu.au/cmo/roadsafety/abstracts_and_papers/039/Barnes_Jo_39.pdf http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/esri/vsrc/publications/Abstracts 2000+.htm For some reason I found it very difficult to find non-US info. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling ---
Forget it (good, I see everyone already has). Found the thread in another NG.... DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
