Trying to fit as many airbags into a car is no longer the focus for automotive engineers, who are now looking instead at where they are most needed. Researchers say the risk of people being seriously injured in a crash situation because they collide with each other is significant and there is a need for centre airbags that would inflate between a driver and passenger or rear seat passengers to reduce injury. Some 30 per cent of fatalities in America involve side collisions. General Motors has been fitting them in larger vehicles in the US for the past two years.
Now ZF TRW, a German component supplier, has developed an airbag that deploys between the seats and is reporting strong interest from car manufacturers in advance of possible regulatory requirements for the airbags.
