A BRITISH driver who survived the impact of a minor car crash was killed by the fumes from his airbag.
Ronald Smith, 59, was not injured during the six-car wreck in Hartlepool, northeastern England, but the impact of the crash triggered his car’s airbag and broke a window, which cut through the safety device.
The Vauxhall Insignia’s punctured airbag released chemicals that quickly caused Smith, a healthy father of two, to suffer chest and breathing problems, the Scottish Daily Record reported today.
This is exactly the sort of situation that caused the U.S. Congress to prohibit the collection of data regarding injuries and fatalities associated with deployments and mis-deployments of airbags. The insurance industry knew going in that the technology would cause some deaths and serious injuries and they didn’t want to have to discuss detailed statistics regarding those.
Sorry, but this is just stupid. The gas is mostly inert nitrogen, and in any event the airbag gases are always breathed in by the car occupants. The things are vented and deflated quickly once they have been deployed. That’s why the car cabin fills with a sort of smokey vapor after an accident.
In addition to nitrogen, there are other components of the gas, which by design are pretty damn inert since they are always going to be breathed in by the car’s occupants. Duh.
Also true. Does anyone know if anything more noxious than corn starch is used as a dry lubricant?
Maybe the EPA should get a group of people and do a study on the effects of breathing air bag fumes. No, wait! they might already have the data!
Dude died January 2011.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151150/Killed-fumes-airbag-Father-59-died-crash-glass-pierced-bag-releasing-noxious-chemicals.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-mailonline
Spot on GC, this item is on an inquest report.