Killer Air Bags
There's a bomb on my steering wheel, and the government made me buy it!
Update 3/3/01 - I created this web page in 1999, mainly as a way to voice my opinion after reading some eye opening air bag articles. Unfortunately, I have not had time to continue researching and fighting this cause. However, I am surprised by the number of people who email me, sharing their air bag horror stories and asking how to disable them. How they find my little, obscure, unpublicized web page is beyond me. It seems there are a lot of people who, like me, feel the government is way wrong about these things, but doesn't want to admit it. -jmp
I do not want an air bag
I do not believe they offer much added protection when wearing a seatbelt (...which I do). They are complicated, expensive systems which I do not want to pay for, then pay even more to have deactivated. If you don't agree with me, fine, buy one; just don't make me. All I'm asking is that they be optional. Why can't I buy a car without an air bag?
If you answered that question, I have one more: Why can I buy a motorcycle? A car without an air bag, even without seatbelts, is inherently safer than a motorcycle (...ask yourself which vehicle you'd rather be in in a head on collision). Yet I can buy a motorcycle but not a car without an air bag (...heck, the government even seems to encourage it - they let them ride in HOV lanes). Why is that?
Air bags are a typical government solution. First, throw money at it by forcing us to buy them, then see what happens. When people start getting injured or killed by them, add warnings and regulations. Then throw more money at it (...seat sensors, shutoff switches, higher tech bags, etc.), then see what happens. And if someone accidentally doesn't turn off a switch and his infant son is killed by an air bag, punish the grieving father (...see Headliners, 12/15/98). Why is it that the government makes rules, but takes none of the responsibility? If I'm ever harmed by an air bag which I was forced to buy, I think the lawmakers who made me buy it should be PERSONALLY held responsible.
How did I get stuck with an air bag?
To the best of my recollection, this is how it happened:
- People don't wear seat belts.
- Government passes mandatory seat belt law.
- People still don't wear seat belts.
- Government requires passive restraint system on cars.
- Some car manufacturer go for air bags, some for automatic seat belts.
- People hate automatic seat belt more than the manual ones.
- Car makers go with the air bags.
- People still don't wear seat belts.
- Air bags start killing people.
- Government adds rules, regulations, and punishments for air bag use.
Let's follow that logic - If air bags are as good as automatic seatbelts, and manual belts are as good as automatic ones, then air bags must be just as good as manual seatbelts. But people don't wear them. So government, needing to feel useful and protect its children (i.e. us) mandates that we buy an expensive passive system that does the same job as simply buckling up. This means the only people to get screwed are the responsible ones who always wore their seatbelt - now they must pay for an expensive, complicated, explosive device which is of little use if you're wearing a seatbelt.
But wait, there's more. Now the government must really enforce the seat belt laws, mainly to protect us from the air bags, especially in the more common low speed accidents where the air bag add to injuries, even fatalities.
They paste decals all over the car warning us of the dangers. Then pass more regulation like putting your children in the back seat away from the danger (...hey, where can I buy a car with the steering wheel in the back seat?). Now, mothers being mothers, buy little mirror attachments so they can keep in constant view of the little one back there. I wonder how many accidents (...low speed, short women - the air bag's favorite) were caused by mothers watching the mirror instead of the road? By the way, it has been determined that the best seat to put your child in is the one in the living room! What's the next law - no children in cars at all (...it would save many)? There is an inherent risk to driving that we have to accept.
There is also something called "point of diminishing returns", where the cost isn't worth the benefits. Example - making the speed limit 25 mph would save many more people than air bags and seatbelts put together, but the cost in time makes it impractical. I believe air bags are beyond that point. And if you argue that "time" is worth more than the "cost" of air bags, answer this: Why isn't wearing helmets in cars mandatory? They don't cost much in either time or money. I'd even wager they are more effective in all types of crashes than air bags (...race car drivers have to be the most safety conscious drivers around - they have every conceivable safety feature right down to the helmet, but no air bag). So, why aren't we all wearing helmets? We'd mess our hair, of course.
What are the costs?
$300? $500? $800? The only number I've seen printed was for replacement costs - $800-1,300 driver side, and up to $2,700 for passenger (...see Headliners, 3/27/97). But whatever it is, it's several hundred dollars. Now multiply that by the millions of cars that have them. We're talking billions of dollars spent on air bags (...most of which end up in the junk yard).
Air bags have killed about 120 people (NHTSA, Dec. 98). But I'd think it would have to be pretty blatant if the air bag is blamed - like a 5 MPH parking lot accident where they can't blame anything else. But if someone dies in a bad accident, do you think they'd ever blame the air bag? Do you think they could even tell? The air bag on your steering wheel packs enough punch to decapitate children - it is not the soft pillow everyone thinks it is. I wouldn't be surprised if air bags have killed many more than 120.
But some of the most disturbing stories about air bags don't involve fatalities. One woman drove into a drainage ditch and would have walked away if it wasn't for the air bag breaking her neck. And then there was Dr. Alvin Stein, a 6 foot 9 inch 280 man who broke his neck in a low speed (15 mph) collision (...see Headliners, 1/21/97). I wonder how many others.
And at least one more cost - the caustic chemicals used to inflate them are hazardous. I saw this on the news, so I don't have a copy, but it ranged from serious and disabling effects to changing peoples voices when it hits their vocal chords. The government even warns about not breathing the gas when it fills the car after an accident. Great, unless you've just been knocked out by the bag (...or worse), or the doors have been warped shut.
What are the benefits?
That depends on how you count the accident statistics. The NHTSA estimates 3,600 lives saved so far (Dec. 98), but I'd like to see them prove that (...see headliners, 1/22/97). Frankly, I think that number is highly skewed to make it seem like the government hasn't made another mistake. But even if it was true, 1) is that a lot, and 2) is it worth billions of dollars?
I've seen a statistic that good old (cheap) seat belts save about 4,000 people PER YEAR, yet only about half the people wear them. This means that another 4,000 would be saved if the other half buckled up. That's more in one year that the sum total of ALL air bags! Just how much added protection do they give us, especially if your wearing seat belts? (The car Princess Di was in when she died had air bags, yet the only person who survived was the only one wearing a seat belt, plus I've seen articles stating that a seat belt would have saved Di.)
And there's something about the physics of an air bag that doesn't make sense to me. If a crash is that bad, how will a piece of canvas exploding at 200 MPH in the opposite direction help much? And if it isn't bad, then the only thing we have to fear is that exploding piece of canvas. Personally, I'd like to see slow motion crash dummy tests - with and without air bags, with and without seat belts, and every combination of both of them. And for laughs, throw in a low cost helmet. I'd bet that the air bag is by far the most costly and least effective safety device. I'll even bet air bags kill some of the dummies.
Are they worth it?
At best, it's highly debatable. I don't believe they are, and I don't want one 18" from my face. But some people may think the several hundred dollars is money well spent. So buy it. I wouldn't dream of taking that freedom away. All I ask is the same freedom (...at least as much as someone buying a motorcycle). Both sides win if air bags were an option.
The government also likes to point out that air bags lower insurance costs due to the reduced injuries. Don't make me laugh about lower insurance costs. And fatal accidents were up in NJ last year. Maybe air bags are to blame.
A brief history of how dishonesty at the Department of Transportation enabled the federal mandate for automobile air bags.
A column written by Richard B. Gifford, one of the many people who found my web page and contacted me. He raises many of the same questions that I have, and has found some interesting answers. Please read.
News Headlines
(...all I know is what I read in the papers. -Will Rogers)
UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED? New rules won't quiet controversy over air bags (Daily Record, 1/12/97). "I am 6 foot 9 inches and weigh 280 pounds," said a letter from Dr. Alvin Stein. "I drive with my car seat all the way back and tilted as far back as possible. I wear my seat belt all of the time. I was driving a Cadillac Sedan DeVille and had a low-speed impact, front-end collision. The air bag deployed, striking me in the face, breaking my neck and causing a burn on my forehead. When it hit, it also left me out of control and my thumb was broken from the impact of the air bag blowing my hand off the steering wheel".
SHAKY STATISTICS ARE DRIVING THE AIR BAG DEBATE (Wall Street Journal, 1/22/97). In fact, no one can say with certainty how many lives air bags have saved - or how many lives they have claimed. The 1,700 figure is an estimate, generated by a computer model developed by the NHTSA.
My 2¢: Question: how many people were killed by the air bag (...exploding at 200 mph in the opposite direction as the passenger) in HIGH speed crashes? If an air bag can kill at low speed accidents, it certainly can kill at higher speed impacts. But do you think the air bag ever gets blamed in a high speed crash? I doubt it.
POLL REVEALS MOST AMERICANS UNDERESTIMATE AIR BAG RISK TO KIDS (Star Ledger, 3/17/97). More children have been killed by air bags than have been saved by them. Yet a majority of Americans believe the reverse is true.
EXPERT FAULTS SUCCESS RATIO OF AIR BAGS (Star Ledger, 3/20/97). If passenger air bags were a vaccine, they'd be forbidden as too costly because they kill one child for every five adults they save.
THIEVES ARE BEATING AIR BAG LAW TO THE PUNCH (Star Ledger, 3/23/97). Auto air bags have become a lucrative commodity for criminals. In 1995, 32,400 air bags were stolen nationwide, up 77 percent from 1993. The result is higher insurance premiums. Replacement costs between $800 and $1,300. That amount is nearly double - up to $2,700 - for passenger side bags. An experienced thief can steal an air bag in less than 20 seconds and can sell them on the black market for up to $200.
My 2¢: Some people want there air bags taken out. Other people want air bags and will pay good money for them. And others, like me, want them out AND are pissed that the government makes us buy them. Obvious solution - cut out the middle man (...the thieves). Just let people SELL them back to dealers (...are there any entrepreneurs reading this? "We come to your home and remove your air bag FOR FREE"!).
EARLY AIR BAG SUPPORTER NOW SAYS BENEFITS WERE OVERBLOWN (Daily Record, 3/24/97). John Graham, director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, admits that they overstated the safety benefits of air bags. In fact, there is not one documented case of an air bag's having saved a child's life. Experts had predicted that passenger side air bags would save 30% of the crash victims, but only 12%, or 150 people, have been saved. Even among children who are properly restrained in the front passenger seat, they are safer without an air bag. Despite the grim statistics, passenger side air bags are here to stay - for now.
My 2¢: Has anyone calculated how many millions and millions of dollars Americans had to shell out to save 150 people? I'll bet that kind of money would be far more useful doing something else (...how many people die from simple things like hunger or not getting vaccinations or the such?).
MAN SENTENCED IN SON'S FATALITY FROM AIR BAG (Star Ledger, 12/15/98). A man failed to switch off an air bag that deployed in an accident and killed his infant son was sentenced to two 12 hour days in jail. "Anything I do won't matter," the Judge said, "your personal guilt - you're going to carry".
My 2¢: HIS guilt? Wait a minute - what about the cars that don't have a switch - who's guilt is that? How about the idiots who made the law?
E-Mail Please E-mail me - I'd like to know your opinion. It's interesting that out of everything on my web site, I put little effort into this page, yet it gets the most response. And a surprising number of them have had personal negative experiences with air bags. I even had a former race car driver send me his opinion (..."they don't work").