Airbags Can Reduce the Risk of Motorcar Death by a Third
Not many individuals realise that the idea of air bags – a soft cushion to impact against in a smash – has been around for decades. The very first patent on an air bag for aeroplanes was registered during World War Two. During the 80s, the first commercial airbags were a safety feature in motorcars.
Up to now, statistics indicate that air bags reduce the risk of dying in a straight frontal crash by about 30 percent. These days we also have seat-mounted and door-mounted side air bags. Actually, some cars go far beyond just having twin airbags, and instead have 6 to 8 air bags.
The purpose of an air bag is to slow down the passenger’s progressive motion as smoothly as possible in just a split second. There are three parts to an air bag that help accomplish this job:
- The airbag itself is composed of a slim, nylon that’s packed inside the dashboard or steering wheel and, nowadays, the seat or door
- The sensor is the device that orders the bag to inflate. Expansion happens when there’s a collision force equal to driving into a wall at around 15 miles an hour. A switch is flicked when there is a mass shift that closes an electrical contact, notifying the detectors that a crash has happened. The sensors obtain information from an accelerometer built into a microprocessor chip
- The bag’s ballooning system melds sodium azide (NaN3) with potassium nitrate (KNO3) to make nitrogen gas. Hot eruptions of the nitrogen gas balloon the air bag
Due to the superfast expansion of an airbag, it’s crucial the driver and passenger sit in an upright position leaving a good space between their face and the dashboard / steering wheel – this provides time for the bag to inflate while the passenger/driver are being pushed forward by the affect of the smash.
