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A Lot of Hot Air? Air Bags, Your Car, & Your Auto Insurance
Since we’re in the auto insurance business, we’re obviously interested in promoting automotive safety features, which is why we typically offer an auto insurance discount for cars equipped with air bags. However, since we’re drivers ourselves, we’re also interested in promoting automotive safety.
Air bags became a standard feature in vehicles in the 1990s. Some news about air bag-related injuries may have you wondering whether air bags do, actually, increase safety. But the fact is that air bags are protecting far more people than they harm. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) www.nhtsa.gov, air bags have saved over 10,000 lives as of January 1, 2003.
One of the biggest causes of air bag injuries was the rapid speed and pressure of impact resulting from air bag deployment. Air bag design improvements are helping decrease such injuries, since car manufacturers are now authorized to use reduced-power air bags in vehicles.
General Air Bag Safety Tips
Even with such improvements, however, be sure you're aware of the following air bag safety tips to ensure that you and your passengers get all the benefits of air bags without getting injured.
- Strap in for safety. You may assume that if you're wearing your seat belt, you don't need an air bag and vice versa, but seat belts and air bags work together as one system. In most fatal air bag incidents, the victim was not wearing a safety belt or had it positioned incorrectly. Passengers not wearing a safety belt or wearing it incorrectly are especially at risk when the driver brakes suddenly, as passengers are likely to move forward and be too close to the deploying air bag.
- Observe the 10-inch rule. Most people are injured when their air bags inflate because they're sitting too close to the steering wheel and, consequently, the air bag. You should be at least 10 inches from the center of the steering wheel to prevent injury.
- Check your position. Air bags are designed to deploy based on the assumption that you're sitting in your seat properly. Be sure that you and your passengers are all sitting back in your seats with the seats as far away from the dashboard as is comfortable.
- Deal with your wheel. Adjust your steering wheel downward, if possible. Drive with your hands positioned at 10- and 2-o'clock on the steering wheel.
Special Safety Tips for Children
Although air bags can save an adult's life, they can seriously injure children. Make sure your young passengers age 12 and under always ride in back.
Never place an infant in the front seat of a car equipped with a passenger-side air bag. Babies are safest in the center position of the back seat in almost any vehicle. Be sure to find out from your vehicle's manufacturer how all air bags should deploy when children are in the car. Manufacturers may be able to fit your car with an on/off switch if your driving habits fit certain criteria.
For more information on children and their safety in the car, read Kids in Cars: Are They Sitting Safely?
Safety Equipment Helps You Save on Your Auto Insurance
Though cars equipped with certain safety features like air bags can cost more to buy, you’ll save on your auto insurance because of lower auto insurance rates and/or auto insurance discounts for safety equipment. (If your car is a model year that’s factory equipped with air bags, we automatically apply an auto insurance discount in many states.)
Buying a car? To learn more about buying a safer car and other auto insurance-related issues, take a look through more of Esurance’s Auto Insurance Learning Center.
Along with everything you can learn in our Auto Insurance Learning Center, you can also get as many auto insurance quotes as you like. That way, you’ll see which potential car purchases may help you save on auto insurance through safety equipment-related auto insurance discounts. If you haven’t already, see which auto insurance discounts might apply to the cars you’re thinking of buying when you get your online auto insurance quote from Esurance today.
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