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Airbags And Seatbelts

Seat belts:

As soon as the first cars appeared on the road in the early 1900s, the inevitable accidents started happening. This was not entirely unexpected since automobiles were a new phenomenon and people did not know the various safety measures and practices required to be safe on the road. But what was surprising was that people took a long time to realise that most of the accidents which were fatal didn't always happen because of the collision of the vehicle. Most of them were due to the impact of the passenger with the insides of the vehicle itself. It is simple physics but people took a long time to realise the fatal results of this.

Seatbelts were invented by George Cayley around the end of the 18th century. These were for airplanes. But, as soon as automobiles came on the road, American physicians started advising people to wear these for safety. The public did not consider it a necessity and it was around the end of the 1950s that these became a standard accessory in manufactured cars and were first seen in cars made by the Ford Motor Company.

There are several kinds of seatbelts:

- Lap

- Three-point

- Five-point harness

- Six-point harness

- Seven-point harness

Generally we see people come up with variety of excuses as to why they don't wear seatbelts. Some say that they are "good drivers", others say "I'm just taking the car for a short distance". Some other people even say that they will "brace themselves" just in time or even don't wear them simply because they are uncomfortable! What people should keep in mind is that an accident just takes a second and even if you were quick enough to brace you would most likely break your arm or leg. According to data collected, 80% of the accidents happen when you are near your house and are driving at less than 40 miles/hour. Thus nothing qualifies you as the person who can get away risk free without wearing a seatbelt.

Airbags:

Similar in nature to seatbelts, but these were introduced later on as a standard in automobiles. In the simplest of terms, these are nothing but inflated cushions that are generally found in the front dashboard of cars, in the steering wheel and other places where the body might be thrown in the event of a collision. A unique feature is that these cushions only get deployed when a collision is "sensed". Allan Breed holds the patent for the first "crash sensing technology" deployable in airbags.

Since 1998, airbags have been made mandatory in all cars in the U.S. And for a good reason too. Statistics show that airbags have reduced the chances of fatal injuries from frontal impact by up to 30%. Nowadays it is not uncommon to have 6-7 airbags in cars. Not having airbags is bad news for another reason: your car insurance policy will be more expensive!

Initially it was considered a replacement to the seatbelts by many people. But this was a flawed assumption. Research has shown that it is not meant to be treated as a standalone safety solution rather as complementing the safety already provided by seatbelts. An airbag once deployed cannot be reset again by the customer himself and has to be done by the company.

Though many people complain that seatbelts and airbags increase the risk of getting injured, but except for a few cases where airbags and seatbelts have caused injuries, these have greatly increased our chances of coming out of an accident alive and should not be ignored.