A Crash Course on Airbags

754 Words2 Pages

Car crashes are one of the leading causes for death in many countries all around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “About 1.24 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.” This number is increasing rapidly and the WHO predicts it will reach 1.9 million deaths annually by 2020. To put that into perspective, that is almost like the entire population of Latvia dieing out over the course of a year because of car crashes. Speeding and driving under the influence (DUI) are two other prominent reasons for road traffic collisions. It would be close to impossible to stop all crashes, so the best thing we can do now is to do what we can in order to protect the people facing these tragic occurrences. Airbags are like the little pillows hiding in the steering wheel and other places throughout the car. Although they have been in uses for more than ten years now, they are still saving thousands of live today. They have their flaws, but in my opinion they are still the most effective way to protect people from death or major injuries during a car collision. Physics plays a major role in both is growing problem and this relatively new solution. Whether it’s putting on the brakes of the car to use friction to your own advantage or the airbag being set into action by the force of another car ramming into the side of yours; physics is always there.

Without a doubt car accidents are one of the most prominent causes of death in middle income countries and it is the number one cause of death among young people ages 15 to 29. Everything these days can be a huge distraction, your phone and any other electronics can pose a deadly threat, if not handled correctly. Most governments put speed limits in plac...

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...o sit closer to the wheel stay more safe.

Since becoming a mandatory safety feature in all new car in America in 1998, airbags have saved thousands of lives and prevented countless more injuries. Now that airbags are used in the majority of cars worldwide, no one would ever think about buying a car without them. It has a cultural value of safety, which would have been drastically different before the airbags became popular. Since these amazing safety pillows are small enough, car companies have been able to place them everywhere they find necessary to keep the passenger and driver as safe as possible. When you put the airbags to the test they can always adjust for size and distance of the traveler to ensure the people inside the car are greeted with a soft landing on a pillow, rather than being blasted, as if they were in the middle of a jet propelled pillow fight.

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