At Least 500 Motorists Saved By Air Bags In ‘96, Study Finds Safety Devices Could Prevent 2,800 Deaths Per Year

While air bags may cause deaths among children under age 13, at least 500 adults involved in traffic accidents this year owe their lives to the bags, a government study released Thursday shows.

And an estimated 2,800 people may be saved by air bags each year once the powerful safety devices become more widely available.

The conclusions are based on the first comprehensive federal study of air bags, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The agency evaluated 9,509 crash deaths from 1985 to 1995. During that time, 1,136 passengers were saved by air bags. And two-thirds of those survivors were not wearing seat belts.

The study helps to define the human dimension of an ongoing debate between automakers and safety officials over how to take some of the dangerous punch out of air bags, which are deployed at 200 mph.

The powerful inflation of air bags proved deadly to as many as 27 children and 19 adults during the 10 years when the bags saved more than 1,000 lives, the study says.

“If someone offered an inoculation against cancer that would reduce your risk by 34 percent, you’d take it like that,” said William Boehly, associate administrator of the traffic safety agency.

“No one is happy about children being killed,” he added. “But you don’t want to give up the benefit that air bags provide.”