Side airbags reduce rollover deaths
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`Home » Status Report » 2014 » Article
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`Status Report, Vol. 49, No. 4 | May 29, 2014
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`Side airbag benefits extend to people in rollover crashes
`
`Updated estimates of fatality reduction
`by curtain and side air bags in side
`impacts and preliminary analyses of
`rollover curtains
`by C.J. Kahane, National Highway Traffic Safety
`Administration
`
`More on rollover crashes
`
`More on airbags
`
`Vehicles roll over in less than 3
`percent of all crashes, but these
`crashes account for more than a
`third of passenger vehicle
`occupant deaths.
`
`IPR 2016-01790
`American Vehicular Sciences
`Exhibit 2035
`
`The side curtain airbag and driver airbag deploy in the Hyundai Genesis during an IIHS side test.
`The car's side curtain airbags also are designed to deploy in a rollover crash.
`
`Side curtain airbags that deploy in rollover crashes help reduce front-seat occupant deaths in
`first-event rollovers by 41 percent, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
`estimates in a preliminary look at the benefits of this relatively new type of airbag. In the report,
`the agency also updates estimated benefits for four other types of side airbags, adding to the
`evidence that they are saving lives and reducing injuries.
`
`Curtain airbags designed to deploy in rollovers and remain inflated longer began to appear in
`2002 models, and by the 2014 model year about 38 percent of new passenger vehicles had
`them. These rollover airbags are expected to become the norm as manufacturers work to meet
`a new ejection mitigation standard that began phasing in with 2014 models (see "New ejection
`rule may spur changes in side airbags," April 26, 2011).
`
`Other types of side airbags have been available on U.S. passenger vehicles since 1996. These
`include curtain airbags designed to deploy from the roof or door in side crashes; torso airbags,
`which deploy from the seat; combination head/torso airbags; and curtain plus torso airbags.
`Curtain plus torso airbags are the most common, found in 83 percent of 2014 models, HLDI
`estimates.
`
`Based on analysis of data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, NHTSA estimates that
`curtain plus torso airbags reduce the risk of a driver or right front-seat passenger dying in a
`near-side crash by 31 percent, and combination head/torso airbags reduce the risk by 25
`percent. Curtain airbags alone lower the risk by 16 percent, while torso airbags trim the risk by
`8 percent. The agency's estimated benefits of side airbags are in line with earlier research by
`the Institute and other groups (see "Surviving side crashes: Side airbags are reducing driver
`deaths," Oct. 7, 2006, and "Combination side airbags reduce death and injury risk," Dec. 20,
`2012).
`
`In side-impact crashes, the side structure of the struck vehicle or the structure of the striking
`vehicle can injure even properly belted occupants. In some cases, occupants collide with
`nearby objects, such as utility poles. Side airbags cushion and spread the load of these
`impacts to prevent any part of an occupant's body from sustaining concentrated impact forces.
`Side airbags that offer head protection are particularly important because they may be the only
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`http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/4/3[5/6/2017 10:01:29 PM]
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`

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`Side airbags reduce rollover deaths
`
`thing between a person's head and the front of a striking vehicle, a tree or other object, or the
`ground in the event of a rollover.
`
`All of the vehicles that earn good ratings in the Institute's crash test assessing occupant
`protection in side impacts have head-protecting side airbags. These vehicles also have side
`structures that resist major intrusion into the occupant compartment. NHTSA doesn't mandate
`side airbags specifically but does require a high level of head and torso protection for
`occupants in side crashes.
`
`Vehicles roll over in less than 3 percent of all crashes, but these crashes account for more
`than a third of passenger vehicle occupant deaths. When vehicles do roll, side curtain airbags
`can prevent an occupant's head and upper body from contacting the ground and also keep
`unbelted people inside the vehicle. In addition, safety belts hold occupants in their seats and
`inside the vehicle when people use them, while strong roofs that resist occupant compartment
`intrusion reduce the risk of serious injury and death.
`
`NHTSA notes that its preliminary estimate of the benefits of curtain airbags that deploy in
`rollovers is based on limited data of the fatal crash experience of 2011 and earlier model
`vehicles. This type of airbag didn't begin to see rapid growth in installations until the 2010
`model year.
`
`Also in this issue
`More top scores for front crash prevention
`
`Honda system cuts insurance claims
`
`NHTSA issues rearview camera rule
`
`Volume 49, Number 4
`
`ACCESS MORE ISSUES
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`rrader@iihs.org
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`mobile +1 202 257 3591
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`http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/4/3[5/6/2017 10:01:29 PM]
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