While airbags functioning properly with a properly sized adult reduce trauma, that's a lot of conditionals.
Seat belts conquered ejection and death, but people still didn't wear them, so active restraint and airbags became policy to have at least their 13% chance of being effective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4366828/#sec1-1...
In most of the world it's considered suicidal not to wear a seatbelt while in a moving vehicle.
I'll use an anecdote from my personal life. If you by some misfortune end up in the hospital for an extended time, you have an ever-increasing risk of being infected by drug-resistant bacteria. This happened to a loved one, and it's a tragic thing that will significantly reduce that loved one's lifespan.
Why does this happen? Antibiotics and filth. Antibiotics enable the awful management practices of this particular hospital. There aren't enough aides, the rooms and equipment are filthy, even the lunchroom is dirty. I sat visiting for weeks at a time a different times of day and night and never saw a mop, or a cleaning of surfaces that were soiled. Your average McDonald's kitchen is cleaner.
The economics of insurance are such that the consequences of these infections don't damage the bottom line.
For some people, airbags can discourage seatbelt use in the same way.
If you have an issue that requires observation and not ICU, it’s a different story. Look at the Medicare health ratings online and you’ll find plenty of examples unfortunately!
Airbags alone only had a 13% reduction on fatalities.
https://www.automobilemag.com/news/do-airbags-save-more-live...
That's the red line in this chart: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/US...
The period of most rapid car safety improvements came during a single ten-year period, from 1910 - 1920, where deaths, again, expressed per passenger mile, halved in only ten years.
- Electric / automatic starters.
- Arrangement of controls (accelerator, brake, clutch)
- Windshields.
- Brakes.
- Brake lights.
- Turn indicators.
Various improvements to roads, signage, and lighting as well, I suspect. As well as people simply knowing what cars were and what to expect from their behaviour.
If the technique wasn't known until the 1920s, the issue of the patent exhibits extreme prescience on the part of both Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear
Synthetic rubber wasn't invented until WWII, when natural latex supplies were rendered unavailable due to WWII.
Bring up one of the medical quality websites (the feds publish this as well) and you’ll find plenty of examples in 3 star or lower hospitals. Most hospitals in NYC are like this.
It's not that. It's pretty tricky to get 4 wheel mechanical brakes to put even pressure on the wheels, rather than most of the force going on just one wheel. Mechanical brake linkages are fragile, susceptible to rust, dirt and jamming, and likely need constant tuning.
With hydraulic brakes, it's easy to get even pressure on all the wheels. You can even put a "bias" in that puts more pressure on the front wheels, which makes for more even and controlled braking. Maintenance is minimal, and there are a small number of (protected) moving parts.
