KHURSANIYAH GAS PROJECTS INSPECTION UNIT VEHICLE AIRBAGS

Prepared by: Fouzi H. Al-Fayiz

Outline

Definition How Does Air Bag Work? Advantages of Using Airbags Disadvantages of Using Airbags

Safety Precautions With Air Bags?

Seat Belt with Airbag Eliminate Danger to Children From Airbags Proper Seating Position References

Definition

An airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly in an automobile collision, to prevent vehicle occupants from striking hard interior objects such as steering wheels.

How Does Air Bag Work?

The bag is made of a thin, nylon fabric folded into the steering wheel or dashboard. The sensor tells the bag to inflate when there is a collision force. The air bag's inflation system reacts sodium azide with potassium nitrate to produce nitrogen gas. Hot blasts of the nitrogen inflate the air bag.

AIRBAGS

Advantages of Vehicle Airbags

According to USA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Air bags save thousands of lives each year In frontal crashes and reduce deaths among drivers by about 30 percent and among passengers by 27 percent. About 3.3 million air bag deployments have occurred and it was estimated more than 6,377 lives saved and countless injuries prevented. Air bags, when combined with safety belts, have saved many lives and prevented many injuries in motor vehicle crashes.

Airbags are also designed to protect occupants' heads, side impact, and in the back seat.

Disadvantages of Vehicle Airbags

Airbag can present a serious danger to infants, small children.

Airbag can seriously injure or even kill an unbuckled child who is sitting too close to it or is thrown toward the dash during emergency braking. From 1990 to 2008, NHTSA identified 175 fatalities in USA, as because of Airbags. Most of these have been children. Airbag inflate at speeds up to 200mph and the blast of energy can severely injure or kill passengers who are too close to it.

Examples: Hearing Loss

Hearing loss may occur as a result of air bag inflation in low speed crashes.

Pregnant Women Injuries

Potential harm to unborn children

How airbag Cause Injury or Death

Your Body Momentum Push You Forward while Airbag Will Bush You Backward With High Speed And Force

Even after an accident when the airbags have not deployed, victims and rescue personnel must be cautious.
Airbags can deploy some time after the initial impact, causing injury or death.

Airbag Victim

Safety Precautions

Keep occupants in the position where they receive the most benefit from the air bag. Place yourself 10 inches from your driver air bag. This will give you a clear margin of safety. Measure this distance from the center of the steering wheel to your breastbone.

Replace Airbags that have never been deployed from an accident as a car begins to age. a 14-year life for an un-deployed airbag is typical.
Check indicator light usually located on the dashboard to see if there is a problem with an Airbag (will become lit). Most Air bags only inflate once, and do not provide protection past an initial impact.

Seat Belt with Airbag

Since 1998, all new cars have been required to have Airbags on both driver and passenger sides. Airbags Were Never Designed To Replace Seat Belts. Airbags Are supplemental safety devices. Those not wearing seat belts may slide or be thrown forward against the airbag module, and be seriously injured or killed if airbag deploys.

Eliminate Danger to children from Airbags

Place them in properly restrained devices in the back seat. Never allow Infants and children under 12 to ride in the front passenger seat, even in a child safety seat or booster chair. For two-seater trucks with no back seats, use the switch device that can turn an airbag off for a passenger -- in the instance of a child in the front seat.

Proper Seating Position

Airbags are designed to operate with drivers and passengers in the optimum position. If drivers are not, they can be injured when the bag fires.

Proper Seating Position

Wrong

Correct

References

http://www.safercar.gov/airbags/ http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article8 35.html www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/airbags03 autotips.plentycar.com/airbag-safety-and-your-kids/ - 25k http://www.whatprice.co.uk/cars/airbag-safety.html http://www.cnn.com/ WWW.SAFECAR.GOV WWW.CITIZEN.ORG WWW.NHTSA.DOT.GOV

Thank you