Airbags are getting more and more common these days in all sorts of vehicles even as we witness frequent accidents on the road. Airbags are a sort of safety device which pop out of the frontal part of a car in case of a collision. This is devised to ensure the minimum amount of injury to passengers, especially those sitting on the front seat and the driver. The thing is full of air and is meant to cushion the violent thrust during a collision which can throw the body towards the windscreen in a rapid motion. Most of the car-manufacturers are making it a point to include airbags as an instrumental part of any car model.

Although it is generally known by most people that airbags pop out during a violent jerk, there are many interesting facts about it which remain unknown. Some of these interesting facts are as follows:

The first model of a car that used airbags was Oldsmobile Tornado of General Motors. It happened way back in 1973.

The first car to have standard frontal airbags was the Porsche 944 Turbo. This was introduced in 1987.

A standard airbag can inflate in 0.04 seconds after the mechanism is triggered. This is faster than the blink of an eye.

The mechanism works through a system called Airbag Control Unit (ACU) which includes a number of sensors in the vehicle. If the sensors receive a jolt over the specified limit, the ACU inflates the airbag.

The inflation is actually a chemical reaction that is triggered by the ACU. Traditionally it involves a mixture of sodium azide (NaN3), potassium nitrate (KNO3) and silicon oxide (SiO2). The ignition by the ACU starts a chain reaction that produces Nitrogen gas which causes the sudden inflation.

An MEMS accelerometer is used as the airbag sensor. It is a tiny integrated circuit that senses rapid deceleration which alters the capacitance. ADXL-50, developed by Analog Devices, is the most common MEMS accelerometer used in cars.

In case of a fire, the airbags deploy themselves naturally once the temperature of the car exceeds 150 degrees Celsius to ensure that the whole module does not explode because of the heat.

Since the 1990s, airbags have saved numerous lives. According to one source, the cases of fatal injuries have reduced by 11% since the wider use of airbags in cars.

Although these are meant to save lives, airbags can actually be fatal if used on wrong occasions by mistake. Close contact with the dashboard of the car during the deployment of the airbag can cause serious injuries. Drivers are also taught not to cross hands on the steering wheel while driving. An accidental trigger can damage the hands or the face of a person. According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 175 fatalities were caused by airbags from 1990 to 2000 among which, 104 were children.

In recent times, airbags are also being used in military operations as well as the aerospace industry. Luna 9 and Luna 13 were airbags used for landing on the moon in 1966.

In modern times, it is imperative to spread the use of airbags to reduce fatalities in case of road accidents. It is also advisable to be aware of regular safety measures regarding the use of airbags.