| Certainly, airbags installed in today’s | | | | include eye-socket bruising, broken bones of the |
| passenger vehicles are important safety features. | | | | eye socket, bleeding in the eyeball or ruptured |
| The National Highway Traffic Safety | | | | eyeball. These injuries can lead to blindness or the |
| Administration (NHTSA) estimates that more than | | | | development of angle-recession glaucoma. |
| 20,000 lives have been saved by airbags. | | | | Head Injuries |
| The bad news is that airbags can also cause | | | | Concussions can easily occur because of an airbag |
| severe personal injuries and even wrongful deaths. | | | | hitting a person’s head on deployment. But |
| Detailed NHTSA reports show that since 1990, | | | | more serious injuries, like traumatic brain injury, |
| airbags have killed more than 230 people and | | | | can also result. |
| injured thousands of others. | | | | Because of the position of the airbag, children in |
| Because of this, it is important to be aware of | | | | rear-facing child seats in the front seat, and |
| how airbags can play a part in auto accident | | | | children and petite adults who sit closer than 10 |
| injuries. Following are the most commonly seen | | | | inches from where the airbag deploys are at the |
| injuries related to airbags. | | | | largest risk for serious brain injury. |
| Contact Injuries | | | | Broken Bone Injuries |
| Airbags must come out of the steering wheel or | | | | If your arms are in the path of a deploying airbag, |
| front instrument panel very quickly to be | | | | the airbag can cause broken bones in your arms, |
| effective in an automobile accident. (Airbags can | | | | wrists and fingers. |
| be ejected at speeds as high as 200 miles per | | | | Internal Organ/Soft Tissue Injuries |
| hour.) But that quick deployment means there is | | | | Because the engineering behind airbag systems |
| also a large amount of force. That force can | | | | was created for a 5 ft 8 inch 180 lb. male, the |
| cause contact injuries, including: | | | | bags can put others who do not fit that driver |
| - Cuts and scrapes | | | | model at serious risk for internal injury. But |
| - Bruises | | | | internal damage can happen to anyone, especially |
| - Contact burns | | | | unconscious drivers who may be slumped over |
| - Rashes | | | | the steering wheel or drivers who are not |
| Eye Injuries | | | | wearing seat belts and who slide forward during a |
| Types of eye injuries from airbag deployment | | | | crash. |
