Surviving Side-Impact Collisions: The Revolutionary Side Air Bags

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's side-impact statistics are shocking:
- 40% of all serious injuries from accidents are the result of side impacts.
- 30% of all accidents are side-impact crashes.
- Head injuries are the leading cause of death in side impacts accidents.
- More than 9,000 people died in 1998 alone because of side impact accidents.

However, a revolutionary car safety feature promises to reverse the numbers. Side air bags are inflatable devices designed to protect your head and torso from side impact collisions and rollovers. They can be located on the side of the seat, the door or roof rails above your car's windows.

When your car's side is hit, sensors detect the strong impact and activate the air bags. Because a thin door is all that separates the car's occupants from deadly impacted objects, safety engineers managed to create an air bag that can deploy in 5 or 6 milliseconds.

The inflated airbag expands creating a barrier between the passenger and hard objects inside or outside the car. Side curtain airbags also remain inflated for a few seconds after the crash in order to prevent ejection in case of rollover.

This innovative safety device doesn't come standard in most new cars and adding it could cost between $300 and $800. Luckily, automakers voluntarily agreed to include side-impact air bags to all vehicles starting 2009.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, side air bags may be the most revolutionary and useful safety device available. If all vehicles were equipped with side air bags, NHTSA estimates that between 700 and 1,000 lives would be saved in side impacts alone.

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