The 28-year-old driver was checked over by paramedics but she escaped with slight seat belt and
air bag injuries.
Because 1990s vehicles with poorly designed air bags will move through used vehicle markets for years,
air bag injuries and the resultant lawsuits will inevitably continue.
Almost all the children who died from
air bag injuries were improperly restrained or positioned.
According to NHTSA, 66 children have reportedly died in MVCs as a result of
air bag injuries since 1990; 63 were either totally unrestrained or improperly restrained; 14 deaths were infants riding in rear-facing child safety seats in the front seat of the vehicle; 6 of the improperly restrained children had slipped the shoulder strap behind them and wore only the lap best portion; and a 2-year-old weighing less than 22 pounds was restrained with a lap/shoulder belt (NSC, 1998c).
Air bag injuries often occur when an occupant is close to the bag during a collision.
Citations to medical literature dealing with the biomechanics of
air bag injuries are included to help point the way to admissible expert opinions under the Daubert rules for scientific evidence.(1)
The University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute recently conducted a study of
air bag injuries, finding that two-thirds of drivers were injured in 540 crashes in which the air bag deployed.