History of airbags

What could possibly go wrong?

Airbags are one component you cannot go without in a car, something you need, but let’s hope you never have to make use of them. They do give us a sense of comfort, at least, knowing that we’ll be alright if something were to happen.

Thanks to the geniuses who invented and brought them to the automotive world, airbags have saved millions of lives.

The early experiments

Behind any invention is a good idea or some sort of event that leads to the idea. One afternoon in 1952, a retired engineer named John W. Hetrick was driving his 1948 Chrysler Windsor in the Pennsylvania countryside with his wife and seven-year-old daughter.

About three miles outside Newport, they were watching out for a deer bounding across the road. He had to hit the brakes rather vigorously to avoid a boulder in the middle of the road. This made him think that things could have been a lot worse.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the event that unfolded and thought that there had to be a way to protect passengers from the sudden stopping of a car. He then proceeded to design a “safety cushion assembly for automotive vehicles” and patented it in 1952.

The design included bags that would be inflated and located in the steering wheel and the glove compartment. For the rear passengers, they would be located behind the seat headrests. A valve would then open and inflate them.

He had to wait one year to receive the patent, but even so, he didn’t have the money to carry through with it. He did pitch this idea to major car companies at the time; unfortunately, he got no response.

A German inventor named Walter Linderer had his patent for the same idea about three months after Hetrick had his, but only with compressed air. This would have involved inflating the bags with compressed air either by bumper impact or the driver, although deploying them mid-crash is not too plausible. However, after proper research, it was found that the compressed air didn’t inflate the airbags quickly enough for maximum high-level safety.

During the 1950s, Ford and GM started experimenting with an inflatable restraint system, which would have effectively been an airbag as a seatbelt. However, it was discovered that it did not deploy quickly enough, even without a sensor that wasn’t present at the time.

GM and Ford soon discovered the implications involved with this safety feature.

Airbags potentially used as an alternative to safety belts.

A mechanical engineer named Allen Breed created the first reliable airbags with sensors, which many at the time considered the start of the airbag era. He sold them for $5, which was a considerable amount at that time. His airbags used two layers of fabric that were vented in a way that would provide a less rigid and safer cushion, preventing harmful impacts.

Mercedes decided they wanted a crack at it too, and in that same year, they started to develop airbags for their vehicles.

Due to the rapid increase in vehicle accidents, the government became more involved in efforts to find ways to reduce these events. Jim Hall of the National Transportation Safety Board stated that more American lives have been lost due to highway accidents compared to all the wars the country has fought. As a result, in 1968, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required all cars to have safety belts.

The following year, they proposed using passive restraints in cars to protect passengers not wearing seat belts. However, GM warned about the serious threats posed by airbags to children. This was because they conducted early fleet experiments on vehicles, and seven fatalities were recorded, leading to the belief that they were caused by the airbag.

The mandate for airbags kept being prevented and delayed, but finally, by the 1970s, it was ordered. By 1974, carmakers had to either install automatic seatbelts or airbags. However, these manufacturers opposed either option. Ford and GM were among the automakers who lobbied against airbag requirements, claiming that the devices were unnecessary, impractical, and inappropriate. However, the ruling only experienced delays and was not stopped.

In 1973, GM’s Oldsmobile Tornado became the first car ever with a passenger airbag. Later on, GM made its own air cushion restraint system (ACRS) available as an option for regular production cars, such as Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks, to name a few. They equipped cars with ACRS on the driver side, driver-side knee restraint, and the passenger side. The passenger-side airbag protected front passengers and also included dual-stage deployment, which depended on the force of impact.

During the 1980s, car manufacturers began to move away from considering airbags as an option for installation or as a seatbelt replacement. The airbags became designated as supplemental inflatable restraints.

The glorious W126 was introduced in 1981 with an option of airbags in its high-end saloon. The car used sensors that automatically tensed the seatbelts to reduce the passenger’s motion on impact, which is quite common in today’s cars. They made the airbags and seatbelts work hand-in-hand with one another rather than individually.

As standard safety equipment

In 1987, the Porsche 994 Turbo was introduced, which came standard with driver and passenger airbags. The Honda Legend became the first Japanese car to have airbags, while in 1988, Chrysler became the first automaker in the US to offer airbags as standard equipment in their models. In 1991, all Chrysler minivans were released with airbags. The Jeep Grand Cherokee in 1992 was the first SUV to be available with airbags, followed by the Dodge Ram, which became the first pickup to have airbags in 1993.

In 1990, Ford decided to include airbags as standard in all their vehicles. That same year, the first known accident between two vehicles occurred, thanks to the airbags. All the occupants escaped with only minor injuries. In 1991, a new law was introduced stating that all passenger cars and light trucks built after September 1st, 1998, must have airbags as standard for the driver and passengers.

The NHTSA has mandated new rules for advanced airbags to give auto manufacturers more flexibility. It has also required improved protection for passengers of different sizes, regardless of whether they use seatbelts, while minimizing the risk to children, infants, and other passengers caused by airbags. Since the early 2000s, airbags began to appear in even the most budget cars. Side curtains, rear airbags, and many more advancements were introduced as time went on.

Today, airbags are standard in all cars. Many people hope to never have to use them, but anything can happen.

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