OEMAIRBAGS.COM 1-866-636-2247

 

	History of Airbags
	Airbag patents go back to the 1950s. In the 1970s, both General Motors and Ford placed airbags into a small fleet of automobiles. Generally, the airbags performed well. Only one death was attributed to the air bags and, even in that instance, there was a question as to whether the airbag was the cause of injury. Surprisingly, these 1970s airbags were in many respects more advanced than ones used in the 1990s. They used adjustable inflators, which are only now coming back into use. (See Safer Airbags below.) Throughout the 1980s, manufacturers resisted installing airbags. They felt that safety did not sell vehicles and were worried about costs. They told the government that airbags would kill occupants, especially children. While resisting government regulations, they also halted most airbag research and development activity. In fact, they wasted an entire decade of opportunity to research and develop airbag technology.
	Then, in the late 1980s, Chrysler reversed itself and started installing airbags. Lee Iaccoca went on television in the early 1990s and told the public he had been wrong and had now realized that airbags save lives. The race was on. Suddenly, safety was a selling point. Manufacturers were concerned that they would lose sales if they did not have airbags. By 1992, most manufacturers had airbags on the driver side and by the mid-l990s most had airbags on the passenger side as well. TV advertisements showed airbags deploying in a soft billowing fashion