Statistics: How Accident Statistics Effected Installing Airbags - Essay Example

Automatic seatbelts and airbags both were such systems. Nevertheless, it was explained by the agency that combining 3-point belts, buckled correctly with an air-bag gives the occupant the highest safety. Following this disclosure there was immediate public support for belts over automatic safety belts. In 1990, the number of cars fitted with air-bags that was sold crossed a million. By 1993, most new cars were fitted with air bags for the drivers and dual air bags by the end of 1994. By 1995, most of the new light trucks sold were fitted with either driver air-bags or dual ones providing safety for the passenger as well.

Each and every new car was required to be fitted with twin air-bags as well as manually operated 3-point safety belts in 1998, and this was carried through for all light trucks manufactured in 1999 as well. This study presents the upshots of statistical analysis carried out on the basis of NHTSA records of 7933 accidents in 1996 and some other recent studies. The results are based on data from FARS2 covering years 1986 through 2009. We initiated the discussion by noting the statistical methodology of the NHTSA studies.

The NHTSA analysis as mentioned before is based on the FARS database and is in principle a statistical evaluation of effectiveness of airbags. “Fatality reduction” is the main parameter of interest among various sub groups of the population of occupants of vehicles that were involved in collisions. Fatality reduction is computed as the average effect of airbags on the entire population of occupants inclusive of those using and not using seat-belts. The risk of a fatal injury is computed for occupants of vehicles fitted with airbags with and without seat-belts as well as for occupants of vehicles without airbags but with statistical equivalence in the presence of belts as well as statistically equivalent vehicle usage rates.

The fatality reduction due to airbags or airbag effectiveness then is estimated to be the difference between these two fatality risks. All results presented in the NHTSA studies are statistically significant at the 1% level (value of 18.31 or higher). The principal finding is that installation of air-bags significantly reduces fatalities. The reduced percentage of driver fatalities is estimated to be 29 percent in frontal crashes and this number increases to 32 percent for front seat passengers at least 13 years of age.

For drivers not using seat-belts, the airbag induced fatality reduction is 34% while it was estimated to be 21% in case of drivers using seat-belts as well. Of the previously mentioned 28000 people whose lives were saved due to the presence of airbags, 82% were drivers and the residual were passengers in the front seat. Additionally in case of purely frontal collisions, NHTSA’s estimate of fatality reduction for occupants using airbags in tandem with seatbelts is as high as 61% compared to a 50% reduction for occupants using only seatbelts.

The NHTSA study additionally found that in case of passenger vehicles driver air-bags were found to be 30.50% effective in reducing fatalities if the collisions were purely frontal. The estimated reduction or effectiveness of air-bags was substantially less in case of partially frontal collisions. Although the numbers are slightly different the essence of this result holds for vans and light trucks as well. The fatalities of light truck drivers were found to fall by 10 percentage points. For right front seat passen