| For generations, the automobile's only real safety | | | | Perhaps even more importantly, they prevent the |
| equipment were the brakes. Cars were enormous | | | | passenger from being ejected. Ejections almost |
| inflexible boats made of steel with bench seats | | | | always end in fatalities, so preventing them is |
| and not much else. But since the seat belt was | | | | important to reducing automobile deaths. |
| first introduced as a standard feature in the late | | | | The Airbag |
| 1950s, both manufacturers and consumers have | | | | The airbag is an flexible bag meant to inflate |
| been taking a larger interest in the safety | | | | quickly upon a collision with the intent of cushioning |
| features of the automobile. Consumers are | | | | passengers from hitting objects in the car, such |
| interested in buying the safest vehicle on the | | | | as the steering wheel or the windshield. Although |
| market - whether for real or perceived qualities. | | | | the airbag was invented in the early 1950s, it did |
| Crash testing and accident reports have become | | | | not become common equipment until the 1970s, |
| a major selling point for automobiles. | | | | when General Motors began including it on some |
| If you're in the market for a new car, truck, | | | | of its vehicles. |
| minivan, or SUV, it's important to be familiar with | | | | In recent years, airbags have become more |
| the common safety devices that come with | | | | advanced, with many upper-tier vehicles coming |
| vehicles today, and how they work. By knowing | | | | with curtain airbags, airbags which surround much |
| what features are offered and how they work, | | | | of the interior to prevent blunt injury. Airbags are |
| you can be a more responsible consumer and be | | | | not meant to replace seat belts and should only |
| able to ask the questions which can ultimately | | | | be used in conjunction with other devices. |
| affect the quality of car you purchase. | | | | The Crumple Zone |
| The Seat Belt | | | | The crumple zone is a structural feature that has |
| Although the first seat belt was patented in 1885, | | | | become standard on vehicles in which the front of |
| it wasn't until 1949 that the first American | | | | the vehicle compresses to absorb some of the |
| automobile company began offering it as an | | | | impact of a collision, protecting the passengers |
| option for their vehicles. Swedish car | | | | from the full force. It is commonly said that the |
| manufacturers Saab and Volvo were the first to | | | | car sacrifices itself to spare the passengers. The |
| offer a quality restraining device standard on their | | | | crumple zone was first utilized by Mercedes Benz |
| vehicles, in 1958 and 1959 respectively. | | | | in the 1950s. |
| Seat belts are in many way the golden standard | | | | If you'd like to learn more about car safety, visit |
| in auto safety. They hold the passenger in place, | | | | the Wisconsin car accident lawyers of Habush, |
| preventing secondary impacts and collisions. | | | | Habush & Rottier, S.C. |