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Far-side impact injuries represent nearly 40 per cent of all side impact injuries.
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At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking this device protects the driver from an irate passenger, but...
... it's far more useful and has Australian engineering input. General Motors have unveiled what it is calling an industry-first front centre airbag, developed in part by Holden to shield front occupants in side-impacts on the side furthest from the impact.
Holden spokesperson Emily Perry says an advanced engineering team from Holden Innovation worked with Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) on the centre airbag before transferring it to the US safety group.
"Research showed that far-side impact injuries represent nearly 40 per cent of all side impact injuries, but this area of research was lagging other occupant safety R&D," she says.
"So the Holden Innovation team was aiming to advance understanding far-side restraint systems and develop new occupant protection systems for these types of accidents." Holden is looking at the possibility of bringing the new centre airbag technology to future models in Australia but as yet has nothing to announce.
"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," Ms Perry says.
The front centre airbag - to be first seen in a trio of GM's medium SUVs in its model-year 2013 line-up in the US - works like a standard side airbag but from the side of the seat nearest the centre console.
A three-year development program for the new airbag was undertaken and the result is a tethered, tubular device has two main purposes - as a restraint during passenger-side crashes and as an energy absorbing cushion between driver and front passenger.
"The front centre airbag is not required by federal regulation, and no other airbag in passenger vehicles today offers the type of restraint and cushioning this airbag is designed to provide for front occupants," said Scott Thomas, senior staff engineer in GM's advanced restraint systems.
GM says the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show far-side impact crashes accounted for as many as 11 percent of the belted front occupant fatalities in non-rollover impacts between 2004 and 2009.
The far-side fatalities, where the occupant is on the non-struck side of the vehicle, also represent 29 percent of all the belted front occupant fatalities in side impacts. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety president Adrian Lund says GM and Takata are to be commended for taking the lead in this important area.
"The front centre airbag has real potential to save lives in side crashes," he says. GM executive director of Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness Gay Kent says the new airbag technology demonstrates the company's commitment to provide occupant protection.
"While no restraint technology can address all body regions or all potential injuries, the front centre airbag is designed to work with the other airbag and safety belts in the vehicles to collectively deliver an even more comprehensive occupant restraint system," she says.
