Airbags can inflate speeds 200 mph

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Online Drivers Ed Courses available for all skill levels. Learn More. Air bag related injuries can be prevented by following these safety tips: Driver and front seat passengers should be moved as far back as practical, particularly people of short stature.

It is recommended that you sit at least 10 inches away from the air bag. Everyone should wear both lap AND shoulder belts and remove any excess slack in the belt. Airbags inflate as a result of an ignition within the steering wheel that produces nitrogen gas.

In some cases, this explosion can ignite gasoline fumes or other flammable components of the vehicle, placing people at risk for serious burns. Talcum powder residue. For the airbag's nylon fabric to release from the steering wheel with ease, it's coated with talcum powder.

When the bag deploys with great force, so does the powder. In some cases, this dust cloud resulted in someone suffering breathing problems, asthma attacks, and other respiratory issues. Inflation force.

In his collection, there is a photo of a woman who has been horribly scarred by an inflating air bag. None have been nastier than the injuries and deaths caused by exploding inflators in air bags made by automotive supplier Takata Corp. Its air bags have been blamed for killing five motorists in the U. On Nov. Takata declined on the basis that the problem is confined to areas like Florida with high relative humidity.

All the cars are from model year or older. Moisture may be destabilizing the ammonium nitrate. In the faulty inflators, the blast shatters the canister, sending metal shards through the air bag toward the driver.

Arriving at the scene of one such incident, police thought the victim had been shot in the face before crashing. On Dec. Perhaps these scenes—accident reports detailing both gore and tragedy, congressional hearings well stocked with outrage, and executives who struggle for the right tone of response—should come as no surprise.

It has, after all, been a very bad year for the auto industry. But the Takata crisis once again reminds us that this foundational piece of auto safety equipment has always carried the risk of injury—and death—riding shotgun.

People have been hurt because they are the wrong size, shape or age to get the optimal benefit from a device first designed for an average male. An air bag in deployment has to first measure—and then counter—the considerable inertial forces that are brought to bear when your car crashes into another vehicle or object.

Your head and body keep moving forward, translating that energy according to Newtonian physics until some other force arrests it. Experts says that sitting with your chest 10 inches away from the dashboard will minimize your risk of airbag injury. Never let a younger child ride in the front passenger seat. Were you or someone you know injured by a defective airbag or other defective part in a car?

You may have legal rights. Taylor King Law is ready to help. For more information on the Takata Corp airbag recall and a full list of the recalled vehicles, read our last post: Takata Corp Issues New Airbag Recalls.

BY: Taylor King.