Air Bags Put Women At Risk, Data Show

Eighteen drivers have been killed by air bags in the last six years in low-speed accidents they otherwise should have survived, and all but three have been smaller women, government accident data show.

Fifteen of the 18 drivers killed since 1990 were women between 4 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 5 inches in height, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

“These adults would have lived if the air bag had not been there,” said Lee Franklin of the highway safety agency’s research and development office.

Most of the public and government focus on air bag hazards has been on what to do about the deaths of at least 28 children and infants from passenger-side air bags.

Accident data show children have been particularly vulnerable to head and neck injuries from deploying air bags due to their weight and size or because they are riding in a rear-facing infant seat, which can slam against the seat back when an air bag deploys.

However, the information also shows certain adults--especially smaller women--can be vulnerable to driver-side air bags. Four of the women were less than 5 feet tall.

Five of the women were elderly. The rest ranged in age from 17 to 64 and represented all age groups.

In at least three of the cases involving women, the government information shows they were wearing their seat belts--but were still killed by the force of the air bag.

In nine of the cases, the air bags caused brain or spinal injuries--the same type of injuries suffered by children killed by air bags, because the air bags were not hitting them in the chest as intended. In at least two of those nine cases, the women were wearing seat belts.

Franklin said the women’s smaller stature put them closer in height to children. Air bags are designed to deploy in front of an adult’s chest.

Agency officials have been under pressure to address the problem of child air bag deaths and have issued numerous warnings about them, but have not talked about adult air bag deaths.

NHTSA has not made the deaths of smaller women an issue, and top officials declined Friday to comment on the data.

In general, the agency has said air bags saved 1,136 lives from 1986 to 1996. Driver-side air bags reduced deaths in head-on collisions by 30% and in all types of crashes, including side-impact crashes, by 11%.

A recent NHTSA study found that both driver- and passenger-side air bags were slightly less effective overall for women than for men. Air bags reduced deaths of men in crashes by 14%, while among women deaths were reduced about 9%, the report said.

The study also said air bags may have little benefit for most elderly drivers, but suggested further study.

Meanwhile, the number of air bags is growing. There are about 35 million vehicles on the road with air bags, and about 15 million of those have passenger-side air bags. Air bags are mandatory on the driver side and become mandatory on the passenger side of vehicles in model year 1998 for cars and 1999 for light trucks.