Survey Finds Positive Views on Air Bags

While passenger-side air bags have killed at least 38 children, a majority of Americans believe that the safety devices help more children than they hurt, according to a new survey.

Nearly 60% of adults polled by the Center for Risk Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health mistakenly believe that air bags are saving more children’s lives than not, the researchers maintain.

“The public has a perhaps excessively optimistic and favorable view of what air bags are doing for them,” said John Graham, director of the center and the study’s lead author.