AirBags topic (6-10) BY: Cesar Nestor Bianca Arcelia Walter

WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR? The purpose of an airbag is to help the passenger in the car reduce their speed in collision without getting injured. The crash sensors do not signal for the airbag to inflate unless the vehicle is moving at least 6 km/h. Damage can still occur to the passenger if the collision is of a slower speed. This is were the seatbelt plays an important role. The airbag located in the steering wheel does not help the passenger in a collision where another car hits them side on. When the car the passenger is in is backing up and collides the its rear end with another object the airbag does not help. All automobiles must be equipped with an airbag because of these reasons.

The airbag monitors a number of related sensors within the vehicle, including accelerometers, impact sensors, side door pressure sensors, wheel speed sensors, gyroscopes, brake pressure sensors, and seat occupancy sensors. The bag itself and its inflation mechanism is concealed within the steering wheel boss (for the driver), or the dashboard (for the front passenger), behind plastic flaps or doors which are designed to "tear open" under the force of the bag inflating. Once the requisite 'threshold' has been reached or exceeded, the airbag control unit will trigger the ignition of a gas generator propellant to rapidly inflate a fabric bag. As the vehicle occupant collides with and squeezes the bag, the gas escapes in a controlled manner through small vent holes. The airbag's volume and the size of the vents in the bag are tailored to each vehicle type, to spread out the deceleration of (and thus force experienced by) the occupant over time and over the occupant's body, compared to a seat belt alone.

Are airbags safe for children? The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates air bags saved more than 1,040 lives in However, there were almost 100 children killed by air bags during the same year. These deaths were because of children sitting in the front seat, being improperly fastened by seat belts, or not wearing seat belts at all.National Safety Council (NSC) The first rule for safe vehicle airbags is that frontal systems are not designed for youngsters. Frontal airbags can be dangerous or even fatal to the following: Infants or babies in backward-facing child seats. Small children in forward-facing child seats. Older children belted only by the waist-belt, but not the shoulder belt. Any child who is below the weight limit for the front seat and belt without a booster seat, which is typically about 12 years old.

If air bags are reusable is something that needs real attention. If legislation hasn't been created that prevents the recycle of used air bags and their use in new cars, then it is something that is possible. It's obvious that air bags aren't really damaged once deployed (in collisions which the driver's body doesn't hit the air bag) so reusing them is a plausible possibility.

Yes. Drivers and passengers can be seriously injured or killed if they are not properly restrained. Drivers should sit at least 10-inches between the center of their breast bone and the center of the steering wheel.