This page is here to provide a short version of our original article on the Dangers of Air Bags. While we recommended that you read the full version, we understand that short and to the point works better for some people. Either way, we hope that the information you find will help to explain the potential danger of a so called safety device..

Most people think of the Air Bag as a safety feature that they want - until they have to use them. Recent news of the deaths and severe injuries caused by the Air Bag has shocked the public! Many of these injuries used to be blamed incorrectly on the accident when, in many cases involving Air Bags, the cause of the injury was solely from the Air Bag.

Air Bags can deploy at speeds as little as 10 mph. These are speeds that cause little damage to a car. In these accidents the major cause of injury is the Air Bag. These accidents also cause bills of somewhere between $400 and $1200 to replace the Air Bags (the very thing that just caused their injuries) plus additional costs to replace most of the dash as well. Hope you have insurance! If you do, any bets our rates will go up when repair costs start going up for what used to be minor accidents?

And think about this...Air Bags are much larger than a steering wheel. If your hands are on the steering wheel when it deploys they will probably be knocked off. I sure hope you don't need to steer your car at this point. Let's also hope nothing was between you and your Air Bag, like a cup of hot coffee, your hands, or even your glasses. If there is, it's now going to be smashed into your body and/or your face!

No matter how soft they tell you that Bag is, nothing in this world is going to feel good if it punches you in the face at the force that an Air Bag deploys! Would you be any more interested in being punched by Mike Tyson if he put an Air Bag on the end of his glove? Not likely! In most accidents that are survivable, it is the properly designed and used seatbelt that saves lives!

The best demonstrations of safety are shown in auto racing, where cars often slam into walls at speeds over 200 mph. In these races the drivers get out of their cars and walk away - and they don't have Air Bags! (For more on how it is that they stay so safe, see the next page) In fact in showroom stock classes they use the same kind of cars we all drive every day, only they remove the Air bag for safety! Almost all automotive innovations come from auto racing. Where did the Air bag come from? I only wish I knew...

Believe it or not there was a time when, because of the potential dangers to children, the auto makers did not want to install Air Bags. A Federal Law was passed in 1990, over the objections of the automakers, mandating passive restraint systems in all passenger cars sold in the US. This included either automatic type safety belts or Air Bags. The downside of the automatic seat belts (a problem to design around, improper use by the occupants, malfunction reports, and most importantly - people didn't like them) quickly convinced the auto makers and the public that the Air Bag was the perfect safety feature. Unless we can make a change now, starting in 1999 all cars and trucks must have dual Air Bags.


If you have had an Air Bag experience, I would really like to hear from you. I am considering adding a page on Air Bag testimonials. Please send your story here.