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Airbag systems have undergone an unbelievable success story during the past years. The story really began in 1969 when the US Federal Government first proposed that all cars be equipped with inflatable restraints. It took nearly 20 years to get the market break-through and in the year 2000 one expects a market volume of round about 70 million airbag units worldwide. Challenges have not only been set to the developers and engineers but also to policy makers, marketing experts, biomedical scientists and the consumer associations before the real success story could happen. Today the smart car occupant protection system is again one step before another quantum jump. Cost, efficiency and performance drive nearly all car manufacturers and their system supplier towards new frontiers of airbag technology. Implications of the current systems like the risk of fatal injuries, danger to children and the ‘out-of-position’ problem challenge again engineers and scientists.

Sophisticated car occupant protection systems, such as airbags and belt restraints are becoming the most frequent safety devices found today. Within the span of a few years, technology has been developed to meet market needs as well as technical requirements. But today, airbag technology is still in the basic development stage. The vision of car occupant protection presented here includes further development of “smart protection systems”, including overall safety management. Automatic restraint systems, electronics and system management will proceed to a new quality of car occupant protection.