[sperry]

Originally Posted by MikeSTI

thats nice Scott I relize they save lives, but why do they save lives is the question. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO HAVE THEM!!!!! I would like to see the stats on people with air freasheners that survived an auto accident and say that saved thier life right!

"The rule followed fierce debate between air bag advocates and the auto industry, which objected to the cost and warned that because the devices deployed with such force — many at well over 100 mph — they could harm people, particularly children. The warning was prophetic: 242 deaths — many of them children or small women — are blamed on air bags."

The 15,000 lives saved number comes from accident investigators that have determined that without the airbag, the person would more than likely died from the accident. I'd say the 242 people that died vs. the 15,000 saved is a worthy trade off, plus most of the deaths due to airbags was in the early 90's before the added safety of slower deploying/dual stage airbags and seat sensors that detect a child or empty seat. Unless I have a race worthy cage and harness, I certainly wouldn't drive without an airbag. They work, ask EVO Mike.

Joan Claybrook, who developed the air bag rule as NHTSA's administrator in 1977, still stings from criticism that the rule was to blame for the deaths since it required bags to deploy with enough force to protect unbelted, adult male dummies in a 30-mph crash. She said poorly designed air bags were the problem.

"They didn't have to kill people. The companies have total responsibility for that," said Claybrook, who is now president of the consumer group Public Citizen.

Brian O'Neill, an air bag advocate and president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (news - web sites), said researchers were hampered because there were no child or female crash test dummies that might have shown the dangers of air bags to smaller passengers.

Automakers paid out millions to settle air bag lawsuits and began installing less forceful devices in 1997. That action, combined with increased seat belt use and placement of infants in back seats, led to a rapid reduction in deaths. In 2003, NHTSA confirmed six deaths.