THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AIRBAGS IN THE NETHERLANDS. A STUDY INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AIRBAGS AND THE POTENTIAL REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF ROAD ACCIDENT CASUALTIES

This study calculates the effect of an airbag in terms of a reduction in the number of casualties in a road accident. The calculation is based on the effectiveness of safety measures such as seat belts and airbags. 'Effectiveness' is defined as the reduction in a certain level of injury severity including death, when a population starts using the measure, while other factors remain the same. The paper describes some American and European studies into the airbag. The effect of the airbag in the Netherlands is determined by calculating the savings in the number of serious road accident casualties. Two scenarios were studied: (1) that for 1992 all passenger cars were fitted with an airbag; and (2) that none of the cars involved in an accident were fitted with an airbag in the reference year 1992. The first scenario assumes that, in the presence of an airbag, the frequency of seat belt use by both drivers and by front seat passengers will not change. The second scenario assumes that 5% of former seat belt wearers would no longer wear their belt, provided that an airbag was present in the car.