Preview

Air Bag Safety for the Prevention of Injury and Death Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
959 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Air Bag Safety for the Prevention of Injury and Death Essay Example
According to statistics, motor vehicle accidents are the number one leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths, making up close to 45% and more than quadrupling all other causes. Although these statistics can be overwhelming knowing that driving a motor vehicle on a daily basis comes with a lot of risk, an individuals chance of injury can be lowered by following basic rules of safety. The American Trauma Society believes that the injury rate could be reduced by 50% if people would simply apply existing information about prevention. Wearing a seat belt while riding in a motor vehicle is by far the easiest way to prevent injury and death, and should be done anyhow because it is a federal law to do so. In addition to seat belts, motor vehicles are equipped with air bags, an automatic form of protection designed to reduce the risk of injury. In the past decade, air bags have saved the lives of close to 3,000 people. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study of real-world motor vehicle crashes and were able to conclude that the combination of seat belts and air bags is 75% effective in preventing serious head injuries and 66% effective in preventing serious chest injuries. Unfortunately for about 100 people in the past decade, their lives were saved at the expense of suffering a less severe injury caused by the air bag itself. However, when proper air bag safety is applied in conjunction of wearing a seat belt properly, most injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes are minimized or even prevented all together. Air bags are designed specifically to cushion occupants as they move forward in a front-end crash, keeping the head, neck, and chest from hitting the steering wheel or dashboard. In order to perform well, air bags deploy quickly and forcefully, with the greatest force in the first 2-3 inches after releasing through the cover and beginning to inflate. Therefore, occupants who are positioned too close to the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Preliminary HSC Physics Research Task
    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Preliminary HSC Physics Research Task

    Airbags are very effective in saving lives; you are 30% less likely to die in a front end collision because of them. However, they are not made for small people and can therefore sometimes work against their purpose. There have been many instances of children getting injured by airbags, and 284 were killed between 1990 and 2004 by airbags. Luckily, there is a solution to this problem. Many cars are equipped with an on/off switch for the airbags, so you can turn them off if children are sitting in the front seat. Some cars also have sensors that determine whether or not the airbags should be used based on the passenger's weight. In the end, airbags have saved many more people than they have injured, and they are one of the most important car safety features.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    NR505 Critique of Systematic Research Review
    • 1497 Words
    • 5 Pages

    NR505 Critique of Systematic Research Review

    Motor vehicle crashes are identified as the leading cause of death in children under 19 years of age across the United States (Sauber-Schatz, West, & Bergen, 2014). Due to the large number of child deaths that occur each year, education regarding the proper use of child passenger safety seats must be provided to families. According to Basco, Hletko, West, and Darden (2009), although death and injury caused by motor vehicle accidents are deemed accidental, they are preventable. Due to the fact that deaths and injuries that occur are accidental, The American Academy of Pediatrics recognized the need for standardization of recommendations for child passenger safety seats and initiated and funded the development of the Child Passenger Safety clinical practice guideline. Nurses and physicians working in the community and in the inpatient hospital environment have access to multiple resources that can aide in providing education to family members.…

    • 1497 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Drivers Ed Journal. Module 1-2
    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Drivers Ed Journal. Module 1-2

    2. A seat belt plays the biggest role in saving your life in a crash.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws: Click It Or Ticket?
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws: Click It Or Ticket?

    More injuries and deaths have been recorded as a lack of wearing a seatbelt. Some survivals have occurred because…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Seat Belt Laws Research Paper
    • 2059 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Seat Belt Laws Research Paper

    There are many stories that circulate about being in car crashes, with or without wearing seatbelts. This particular story however, outlines what will be a constant theme throughout my whole paper: the horrible effects of not being buckled up while driving. This is a mother’s story, a woman by the name of Samantha Babcock. As you read this, think of how much the safety of your loved ones means to you.…

    • 2059 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belt Research Paper
    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Seat Belt Research Paper

    Every Fourteen seconds someone is injured in a traffic accident in the United States alone. On average someone dies every thirteen minutes. In fact car crashes are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of three and thirty-three. If those people had been wearing a seatbelt the chances are they would have escaped serious injury or death. Have you ever thought about what the difference of wearing your seat belt could make? Or have you ever though if wearing your seat belt would make a different outcome? Wearing a seatbelt drastically increases ones chance of surviving a car crash. Seatbelts are the single most effective way of protecting ones self in a motor vehicle, yet despite the overwhelming evidence twenty-five percent of teens do not. Its time we enforce…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belts Save Lives Research Paper
    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Seat Belts Save Lives Research Paper

    Most people who talk this way and still refuse to use the safety belt are only hurting themselves. Back in 1989 it was said that if two-thirds of the population did not pass seatbelt laws in that year, motor vehicle companies would have to install airbags and automatic seatbelts inside of all cars. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration estimated that 6,700 lives’ were saved during a 3 ½ year period. A University of Michigan study in May found that traffic deaths declined 8.7% in the first eight states with seatbelt…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws

    Car accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in the United States of both adults and children. Seat belts were invented for the purpose to help reduce death and injuries. An airbag is not as effective if it was not for a seat belt. “In the United States, a mandatory seat belt law was first enacted in New York in 1984. Lund et al. [6] found a nine percent decline in traffic fatalities in the first nine months when New York enacted mandatory seat belt law.” (Dissanayake 32) There are two types of mandatory laws, Primary Seat Belt Law and Secondary Seat Belt Law. Depending on the child’s age and weight determines how they should be buckled in. “The lifetime medical cost of crash injuries was estimated to be $18.4 billion: $7.7 billion for treated and released patients and $10.7 for hospitalized patients.” (Bergen 895)…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belt Policy
    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Seat Belt Policy

    Motor vehicle accidents and the fatal injuries sustained remain the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 4 and 34 (NHTSA, 2006). Teens and young adults aged 15-29 years are the most vulnerable to motor vehicle injuries and they account for 38% of motor vehicle crash injuries (CDC, 2016). Seat belt use has been reported to save approximately 13,000 lives each year and has prevented fatal injuries (CDC, 2011). In 2010, more than 30,000 deaths from vehicle accidents were recorded, 53% of those killed were not wearing a seatbelt (NCSL, 2012).…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kalie
    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Kalie

    Not only do people not use car seats at all, but there are a great number of children who isn’t even properly using them. A great deal of evidence shows that when properly used, child safety seats and safety belts can save lives. In fact, studies have shown that during a collision, these seats reduce the risk of death by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers. That is a large number of deaths that could be prevented just by doing the simplest tasks.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Should People Wear Seatbelts Save Lives?
    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Should People Wear Seatbelts Save Lives?

    However, the utilization of seatbelts, in vehicles, has been proven to save lives. Statistics show that the wearing of seatbelts saves over 13,000 lives each year. It demonstrates when used correctly, wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of fatality rates by 45% and the risk of moderate to critical injuries by 50%. Furthermore, for those riding in the rear of a vehicle during a crash, rear seatbelts are 73% better at preventing fatalities than front seatbelts.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Safety Belt Laws
    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Safety Belt Laws

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a change to the primary law will increase observed belt use 11 percentage points. This jump in belt use should prevent about 64 fatalities, 650 serious injuries, and save $140 million in economic costs annually. People often ask how a safety belt can help them if they are involved in a collision. Studies show that using a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a vehicle by 50…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Seat Belt Laws
    • 1989 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Seat Belt Laws

    As I sit at a red light, a car rushes past and collides with another vehicle in the intersection. I call 911 then, after a few minutes, an ambulance pulls up on the scene. The EMT pulled a man from his car; his head a bloody mess from the impact with the windshield. They put him in the ambulance, after a bit of trouble getting him on the stretcher, and rush him to the emergency room. Later that night while watching the six o’clock news I see an interview with the police chief; he states that the man died in the hospital. However, the driver likely would have lived if he would have been wearing his seat belt. With scenes such as this, it is evident that seat belt laws should be in effect as well as enforced. Vehicle fatalities have a big impact on mortality rates and insurance premiums; therefore, enforcing seat belt laws can have a positive effect on society.…

    • 1989 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Paramedic Health and Safety Essay Example
    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Paramedic Health and Safety Essay Example

    Paramedics have the unenviable position of being constantly exposed to disease and bacteria. Our job occupation forces them into situations that present both a biological risk and physical risk such as explosions, falling debris and rubble or other compromising positions. In such a risk filled job, paramedics must follow many strict procedures and protocols in order to remain safe. This paper will attempt to analyze the problems that paramedics have to deal with on a daily basis in relation to their own personal health and safety. Through an examination of paramedic protocols in relation to national Department of Transportation policy and professional practices it is evident that many current policies address the issues of on the job duties for paramedics and how they can avoid health and safety risks through careful awareness and following safety protocols. An examination of health and safety issues must look at the three areas of paramedic safety that affects them the most, their health risks, physical risks, and psychological risks.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Why the drinking age should not be lowered
    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Why the drinking age should not be lowered

    "Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. (book)…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More