Unintended Consequences of Car Airbags
Unintended Consequences of Car Airbags
Just imagine that someone dear to you was in an automobile accident; wouldn’t you like to know that there is a safety device to protect him/her from harm? The “Law of Unintended Consequences” states that new technologies will often result in results the opposite of their intention. Airbags, for instance, have gone through much controversy in the past few years for their actual safety, or lack there of, to occupants. After educating you on the truth about airbags, I believe that by the end of this paper you will have a new appreciation for this lifesaving device in your vehicle. The “Law of Unintended Consequences” may be true for a number of new technologies, but only to a certain extent. Such is true in the case of the airbag, it some instances it may injure a passenger, but at the same time serve its intended purpose.
The purpose of an airbag is to save lives by creating a barrier between the passenger and the dash. In order for an airbag to be effective, it must deploy very rapidly to create an instant buffer ("Auto Safety"). The speed of the inflation is around 200 mph and the entire inflation/deflation process takes less than half a second ("Are Airbags"). When you are involved in a frontal collision at speeds over 15 mph, a number of things happen in about 30 milliseconds: the sudden deceleration of your vehicle causes two sensors to send a signal to the diagnostic module, which self tests to confirm that a crash is taking place, then signals for the airbag deployment ("Airbags").
No one questions that airbags can save lives, especially in severe crashes (Smith). The government estimates that to date, auto airbags have deployed in approximately 1.8 million crashes ("Mr. Traffic"). Airbags have saved over 2,600 lives and are preventing many paralyzing and permanent brain injuries every day ("Air Bag On-Off"). The criticism towards airbags comes from the fact that they sometimes bring about injury and that is its inadvertent outcome. Car accidents sometimes cause injury and death, airbags were designed to prevent death and keep injuries down, that is their purpose, without the airbag accidents would likely yield far more fatal results.
Inflating airbags have caused a small number of deaths or serious injuries to children, smaller-stature adults and pregnant women ("Auto Safety"). To date, 38 adults...