Driver air bags which inflate in the event of a crash offer no more protection than seat belts, according to a new study. Related motoring-safety research shows that sleepy drivers are eight times more likely to crash and that pop-up car bonnets could help to reduce pedestrian deaths.
The British Medical Journal this morning publishes a series of reports on car-safety research. One of the most surprising findings is that driver air bags offer relatively little extra benefit in road vehicle crashes compared with seat belts.
US researchers collated the survival or death of more than 102,000 drivers and single passengers in crashes during 1990-2000, using the data to estimate use of air bags and driver fatality. Having an air bag was associated with an 8 per cent reduction in the risk of death, whether the driver was wearing a seat belt or not. Women's risk of death was 12 per cent while men's was 6 per cent.
Seat belts provided much greater protection, however with seat belt use reducing the risk of death by 65 per cent. Having a seat belt and an air bag only added another 3 per cent reduced risk, bringing it to 68 per cent lower risk of death.
A study from New Zealand reported that driving while feeling sleepy, driving after five hours or fewer of sleep and driving between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. were all associated with a substantial increase in the risk of a car crash resulting in serious injury or death.
Sleepiness resulted in an eightfold increase in risk. Too little sleep meant a driver was three times as likely to crash and driving between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. represented a fivefold risk increase.
Collisions between road vehicles and pedestrians cause more than a third of all road fatalities worldwide, according to another US study. The University of Virginia team argues for crash engineers to design safety features such as air bags for the outside of windscreens and pop-up bonnets and shock absorbing bumpers to reduce injury risks for pedestrians.
Tests are now under way.