Russell & Smith Ford Honda

Airbags: A Worthwhile Headache

Today, most of us drive automobiles equipped with at least basic frontal airbag technology. We know they’re in there somewhere, but in all likelihood—and with a little luck—we’ll never have to find out personally.

In 1999, the federal government began mandating dual-side front-seat airbag technology in all cars and light trucks sold in the United States, as stipulated by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Whether they’re frontal, backseat, side-impact, torso, knee-level, or the more newly developed inflatable seatbelt, airbag technology continues to make steady advances and is becoming more prevalent across the full interior of newly manufactured vehicles.

Ask a new car driver about them, and you’re more likely to hear something like, “Yeah, I had to take my car in because of that recall.” Unfortunately, the technology has been the subject of numerous recalls, touching tens of millions of vehicles. And while deaths and injuries due to defective airbags have remained rare compared to the number of vehicles that feature them, the recall headaches have been very real.

But are airbags working? The short answer: absolutely.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that, between 1987 and 2016, frontal airbags saved the lives of nearly 50,000 motorists involved in moderate to severe collisions. When deployed in conjunction with proper use of the car’s safety restraint, the result has been steady decline in automobile fatality rates ever since.

Here at Russell & Smith Ford Honda, we hope you never have to suffer the inconvenience of an airbag or any other recall. If you’re concerned whether your vehicles airbag may have been the subject of a recall, the NHTSA offers a handy, up-to-date resource featuring the latest in airbag recall efforts. If, heaven forbid, you have to meet your airbag personally someday, you’re really going to want it to work! Airbag technology does save lives—not just in Houston, TX, but across our nation.

If you’re of a certain age, you may be able to remember a time when half your friends chose not to wear seatbelts! Hard to imagine now, isn’t it?

In the near future it will be equally hard to imagine we once manufactured vehicles that didn’t fully leverage this life-saving technology.

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