General Motors has announced that a front centre air bag which deploys from the right side of the driver’s seat to separate the driver and front seat passenger in a side-impact crash, will be fitted to US models from 2013.
Research showed that far-side impact injuries represented nearly 40 per cent of all side impact injuries, yet protection in this area was lagging behind other occupant safety research and development.
Shayna Welsh, communications manager at Holden said: “Holden is looking at the possibility of bringing the new centre airbag technology to future models in Australia. This is a great innovation, but it does present some challenges in terms of integrating the hardware into the vehicle - so there is some significant re-engineering required in relation to the seat packaging.”
Scott Thomas, a senior staff engineer in GM’s advanced restraint systems department, told Go Auto that the front centre airbag would offer a new level of protection for front seat occupants.“No other airbag in passenger vehicles today offers the type of restraint and cushioning this airbag is designed to provide for front occupants,” he said.
GM said that it had worked on the new airbag since 2008 in conjunction with supplier Takata Corporation, a Japanese-based producer of seatbelts and airbag systems.
The front center air bag deploys from the right side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the front row seats near the center of the vehicle. This tethered, tubular air bag is designed to provide restraint during passenger-side crashes when the driver is the only front occupant, and also acts as an energy absorbing cushion between driver and front passenger in both driver and passenger side crashes. The airbag also is expected to provide benefit in rollovers.