| An airbag, also known as a Supplementary | | | | on the 1995 model year Volvo 850. [1] Head |
| Secondary Restraint System (SRS) or as an Air | | | | protection system airbags were included as |
| Cushion Restraint System (ACRS), is a flexible | | | | standard equipment in the 1998 BMW 7-series. |
| membrane or envelope, inflatable to contain air or | | | | On July 11, 1984, the U.S. government required |
| some other gas. Air bags are most commonly | | | | cars being produced after April 1, 1989 to have |
| used for cushioning, in particular after very rapid | | | | driver's side air bags or automatic seat belts (the |
| inflation in the case of an automobile collision. | | | | automatic seat belt was a technology, now |
| There have been airbag-like devices for | | | | discarded, that "forced" motorists to wear |
| aeroplanes as early as the 1940s, with the first | | | | seatbelts). In 1998, dual front airbags were |
| patents filed in the 1950s. | | | | mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety |
| The airbag as known today was invented by John | | | | Administration (NHTSA), and de-powered, or |
| W. Hetrick in 1952 and he patented the device | | | | second-generation air bags were also mandated. |
| the following year. Hetrick came up with the idea | | | | This was due to the injuries caused by |
| to help protect his own family using expertise | | | | first-generation air bags that were designed to be |
| from his naval engineering days. | | | | powerful enough to restrain people who were not |
| The American inventor Allen Breed then | | | | wearing seatbelts. |
| developed a key component for automotive use - | | | | Despite the 1970s implementation of airbags in |
| the ball-in-tube sensor for crash detection. He | | | | GM cars, many conventional automobiles did not |
| marketed this innovation first in 1967 to Chrysler. | | | | even have them until the mid 1990s. |
| During this era, Americans were infrequent users | | | | In 2006, Honda introduced the first motorcycle |
| of seat belts and a means of offering seat | | | | airbag safety system ever installed on a |
| belt-like levels of occupant protection to unbelted | | | | production motorcycle. The airbag was installed on |
| occupants in a head-on collision was felt to be a | | | | its Gold Wing motorcycle. |
| valuable innovation. | | | | The standard shoulder belts were actually |
| Ford built an experimental fleet of cars with | | | | removed on the seventies cars with air bags as |
| airbags in 1971. General Motors followed with a | | | | they were designed to replace seat belts in |
| fleet of 1,000 experimental vehicles in 1973, and | | | | frontal impacts. The passenger side airbag on |
| these Chevrolet cars equipped with dual airbags | | | | 1970s cars was located in the lower part of the |
| were sold to the public through GM dealers two | | | | dashpad and it also acted as a knee restraint. The |
| years later. | | | | lower part of the dash on the driver side was |
| Before these Chevrolets were sold, airbags were | | | | also different on cars with air bags as it was |
| made available to the public in November 1973 | | | | padded. |
| when General Motors began offering dual airbags | | | | GM called this the Air Cushion Restraint System |
| as an extra-cost option on several 1974 model full | | | | the passenger side air bag in the seventies GM, |
| size cars made by the Buick, Cadillac and | | | | cars had two-stage deployment like newer air |
| Oldsmobile divisions. This system was known as | | | | bags do. |
| the Air Cushion Restraint System. | | | | The design is conceptually |
| The 1970s fleet of 10,000 airbag-equipped GM | | | | simple—accelerometers trigger the ignition of a |
| experienced seven fatalities. One is now | | | | gas generator propellant to very rapidly inflate a |
| suspected to have been caused by the airbag. | | | | nylon fabric bag, which reduces the deceleration |
| The crash severity was only moderate and at | | | | experienced by the passenger as they come to a |
| the time a heart attack was suspected. The | | | | stop in the crash situation. The bag has small vent |
| victim was cremated without autopsy. | | | | holes to allow the propellant gas to be (relatively) |
| Then in 1980, Mercedes-Benz introduced the | | | | slowly expelled from the bag as the occupant |
| airbag in Germany as an option on its high end | | | | pushes against it. |
| Mercedes-Benz W126, which also offered such | | | | Front air bags are not designed to deploy in side |
| other exotic options as hydropneumatic | | | | impact, rear impact or rollover crashes. Since air |
| suspension. In the Mercedes system, the sensors | | | | bags deploy only once and deflate quickly after |
| would tighten the seat belts and then deploy the | | | | the initial impact, they will not be beneficial during a |
| airbag on impact. The airbag was thus no longer | | | | subsequent collision. Safety belts help reduce the |
| marketed as a means of avoiding seat belts, but | | | | risk of injury in many types of crashes. They help |
| as a way to obtain an extra margin of occupant | | | | to properly position occupants to maximize the air |
| safety. | | | | bag's benefits and they help restrain occupants |
| Airbags became common in the 1980s, with | | | | during the initial and any following collisions. |
| Chrysler and Ford introducing them in the | | | | Although they were touted in the 1960s and 70s |
| mid-1980s; the former made them standard | | | | as a potential seat belt replacement, automobile |
| equipment across its entire line in 1990. The | | | | airbags are now designed and sold as |
| Swedish company Autoliv AB, today Autoliv, was | | | | supplemental restraints; car designers have |
| granted a patent on side airbags, and torso side | | | | moved on from the initial view of the airbag as a |
| protection airbags were first offered as an option | | | | seat belt replacement. |