Car Airbags: What They Are For And How They Work
25 February, 2022
Safety features are one of the most important parts of a car as it can ensure safe driving. One of the safety features that are widely used by cars today are airbags.
Many airbag features are placed at the front, to prevent collisions on the heads of the driver and front passenger. However, now, there are also many cars that put these airbags not only on the front, but also on the side of the car.
If you are still confused about the function and the details of this car airbag, you can read the article below.
What Are Car Airbags?
Airbags are one of the most important safety innovations of recent decades. This feature provides the most important protection when people are in an accident. Airbags are usually kept hidden but will appear immediately when an accident occurs.
Front airbags have been a requirement for all vehicles since 1999. Meanwhile, side airbags are actually not mandatory but most manufacturers include them as standard equipment to meet the protection requirements.
Placing these objects in the front and side of the car can help save many lives. Front airbags reduce fatal accidents by 29 percent for the driver and by 32 percent for the front passenger.
Meanwhile, the side airbags protect the head thereby reducing the risk of the driver dying in a side accident by 37 percent and reducing the risk of the SUV driver dying by 52 percent.
Engineers continue to find different ways to use airbags. On the rear glass, airbags are made to protect people in the back seat in the event of an accident from behind. The airbags are located on the side between the driver and front passenger, helping to reduce the chances of the two people hurting each other in the event of a crash.
Car Airbags Functions
Airbags are a safety feature that can reduce injuries to passengers and drivers in the event of an accident. However, this feature does not always appear during certain accidents so the driver must understand when this feature can appear and continue to use the seat belt as the main protection.
Airbags can help protect in the event of an accident with a hard impact. This feature can help drivers and passengers to avoid serious injuries, especially those fatal injuries that may otherwise affect the neck, chest, and legs. Airbags will usually appear immediately after an accident so that important body parts such as the head, neck and chest can be protected.
The location of the airbags will depend on the type of car you have, usually in the front, some are on the side. Using only a safety belt in the form of a seat belt can cause severe head and chest injuries. These airbags can help to slow down the movement of passengers in a fast time when an accident occurs.
How Does It Work?
Airbags work automatically when the sensor senses there is a high speed deceleration and a hard impact on several parts. This sensor is usually attached on the front and will immediately send a signal to make the air valve mechanism wire hot and nitrogen gas to appear to fill the air bag.
When an accident occurs, the head of the driver and passenger will directly hit the airbag and it will release the nitrogen. The gas in the airbag is not dangerous because nitrogen is a direct part of the air you breathe every day and is useful for helping the airbag not to be sticky.
Those are some of the important uses of car airbags. It is important to learn when this feature will appear and when it will not. Also make sure to always wear a seat belt at all times. The reason is because you never know an accident can come at any time and seat belts are very helpful in avoiding various fatalities that may occur as a result of the accident.