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The success of modern-day supplemental air bag systems is clear, but key challenges remain. Complaints and misconceptions about air bag systems can result when customers do not understand how the systems function. Field investigation remains critical to both the automotive industry and the research community's understanding of real-world occupant restraint system performance. Field experience has suggested that the combination of safety belts and air bags can provide the best overall risk reduction, but only if safety belts are used, and used properly. THE PURPOSE of this paper is to outline several misconceptions that result from differences between the consumer's understanding of air bag systems, including their content, function and performance, and the actual system operation and field performance of air bag systems. The safety community faces the challenge of recognizing and helping to dispel erroneous information.

It is clear that air bag systems are now practical and effective as supplemental restraints for reducing the risk of injury in certain classes of vehicles and in certain collisions, but several key issues remain. For example, the air bag inflator supply base is still fragile. There are also a number of customer misconceptions resulting from differences between customer beliefs about air bag systems and actual air bag system operation and field performance. Field investigation will continue to be critical to the automotive industry and the research community's understanding of real-world occupant restraint system performance. Field experience has demonstrated that the combination of safety belts and air bags now provide the best overall risk reduction - but only if safety belts are used, and used properly. Hence, there will continue to be a critical need to promote the use of safety belts.

This paper presents an analysis of front seat outboard occupants in frontal and rollover crashes. These occupants were lap belted, lap-shoulder belted or were unrestrained. In the frontal crash the lap-shoulder belt reduces the occurrence of the severe, serious, critical-to-life injuries, and fatalities in all regions of the body (head, neck, thorax, lower torso and extremities). In addition, there is a strong association between belt usage and the occupant escaping from the crash with no injury. In rollover crashes, belts reduce the frequency of the more severe injuries by preventing the occupant from being ejected. For those occupants not ejected from the car, belts effectively reduce fatalities and the more serious injuries.

The relationship between crash severity and injury level is illustrated using the Restraint System Evaluation Study (RSES) data and Texas police-reported data. The RSES data are used to demonstrate that the probability of an injury (or fatality) is a function of both (a) the risk of injury, given a set of crash factors, and (b) crash exposure, or the chance of those factors occurring. The Texas data are used to demonstrate that crash exposure can change with time. Changes in crash exposure can alter the distribution of injuries (or fatalities) independently of motor vehicle standards or design. Texas and CPIR data are used to demonstrate that the risk of fatality is associated with many crash factors other than the traditional speed-related measures.

Data on towaway accidents involving 1973- and 1974-model American passenger cars were collected according to a systematic sampling plan in order to measure 1974 restraint system performance. The data on 5,138 drivers and right front passengers were collected by three organizations: Calspan Corporation, Highway Safety Research Institute, and Southwest Research Institute. Analysis of the data showed that the 1974 ignition interlock system increased full restraint system usage by a factor of 10 over 1973 cars. The 1974 full restraint system (lap and upper-torso belts) also demonstrated a greater reduction in severe injuries (AIS≥2) than the 1973 lap-belt-only system. Paradoxically, little reduction in 1974-model severe injuries was found when the two model years were compared, although no attempt was made to control for confounding factors in the accident cases.