About Side Airbags
Because side airbags aren’t required by federal regulation in Canada or the States, neither government has developed any tests to measure their safety for children and small adults. IIHS hopes its test results will goad government regulators and automakers into standardizing the design of side airbags and increasing their effectiveness and safety.
There is a downside to increased side airbag protection in Toronto airport limousine stretches: Sit properly in your seat, or face serious injury from the deploying side airbag. Preliminary safety studies show side airbags may be deadly to children or to any occupant sitting too close to the airbag, resting his or her head on the side pillar, or holding onto the roof- mounted assist handle. Research carried out in 1998 by safety researchers (Anil Khadikar, Biodynamics Engineering Inc., and Lonney Pauls, Springwater Micro Data Systems, "Assessment of Injury Protection Performance of Side Impact Airbags") shows there are four hazards that have yet to be addressed by automakers:
- Inadvertent airbag firing (short circuit, faulty hardware or software)
- Unnecessary firing (sometimes the opposite-side airbag will fire; the airbag may deploy when a low-speed side-swipe wouldn’t have endangered occupant safety)
- A three-year-old restrained in a booster seat could be seriously injured
- Out-of-position restrained occupants could be seriously injured