Eighteen drivers have been killed by air bags in the past six years in low-speed accidents they otherwise should have survived, and all but three have been smaller women, government accident data show.
Fifteen of the 18 drivers killed since 1990 were women between 4 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 5 inches in height, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data."These adults would have lived if the air bag had not been there," said Lee Franklin of the highway safety agency's research and development office.
Most of the public and government focus on air bag hazards has been on what to do about the deaths of at least 28 children and infants from passenger-side air bags.
"The focus has been on the kids," said Elaine Weinstein, chief of the safety studies division of the National Transportation Safety Board. But, she added, "people have been concerned about smaller stature adults."
Accident data show children have been particularly vulnerable to head and neck injuries from deploying air bags due to their weight and size or because they are riding in a rear-facing infant seat, which can slam against the seat back when an air bag deploys.
However, the data also show certain adults - especially smaller women - can be vulnerable to driver-side air bags. Four of the women were less than 5 feet tall.
"You need to be 10 to 12 inches away from the driver-side air bag compartment, and that's hard for people who are 5 feet tall to do," said Weinstein.
Five of the women were elderly. The rest ranged in age from 17 to 64 and represented all age groups.
In at least three of the cases involving women, the government data show they were wearing their seat belts - but were still killed by the force of the air bag.
In nine of the cases, the air bags caused brain or spinal injuries - the same type of injuries suffered by children killed by air bags.