Airbag

This article is about a car safety device. For other uses, see Airbag (disambiguation).

The driver and passenger front airbag modules, after having been deployed, in a Peugeot 306

An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate in milliseconds during a collision and then deflate afterwards.[1] It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. The purpose of the airbag is to provide a vehicle occupant with soft cushioning and restraint during a collision. It can reduce injuries between the flailing occupant and the vehicle's interior.

The airbag provides an energy-absorbing surface between the vehicle's occupants and a steering wheel, instrument panel, body pillar, headliner, and windshield. Modern vehicles may contain up to ten airbag modules in various configurations, including driver, passenger, side-curtain, seat-mounted, door-mounted, B and C-pillar mounted side-impact, knee bolster, inflatable seat belt, and pedestrian airbag modules.

During a crash, the vehicle's crash sensors provide crucial information to the airbag electronic controller unit (ECU), including collision type, angle, and severity of impact. Using this information, the airbag ECU's crash algorithm determines if the crash event meets the criteria for deployment and triggers various firing circuits to deploy one or more airbag modules within the vehicle. Airbag module deployments are activated through a pyrotechnic process designed to be used once as a supplemental restraint system for the vehicle's seat belt systems. Newer side-impact airbag modules consist of compressed-air cylinders that are triggered in the event of a side-on vehicle impact.[2]

The first commercial designs were introduced in passenger automobiles during the 1970s, with limited success and caused some fatalities.[3] Broad commercial adoption of airbags occurred in many markets during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many modern vehicles now include six or more units.[4]

  1. ^ "Airbags". Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ "The Global Automotive Airbag Market Outlook". Valient Automotive Market Research. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ Bellis, Mary (9 August 2019). "Who Invented Airbags?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  4. ^ Varela, Kristin (19 June 2013). "How Many Airbags Are Enough?". cars.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.