Passenger-side air bags cost almost three times as much as driver-side air bags for every year of life they save, a new study released Wednesday found.
But researchers writing in The Journal of the American Medical Association said air bags still were a good investment."The passenger bag appears to be a worthwhile investment. But we have an ethical obligation to correct a problem that we have created for children," said lead author John D. Graham, director of the Harvard Center for Injury Control at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The authors found that passenger-side air bags cost $61,000 for every year of life they save individuals, while driver-side air bags cost $24,000.
The researchers concluded air bags were a worthwhile investment compared with the cost of other preventive health treatments such as screening for hypertension ($120,000 per year of life saved) or kidney dialysis ($30,000-$35,000).
However, air bags do not approach the benefit from seat belts, which provide a net cost savings even when only half the population uses them, Graham said.
The analysis indicated one child would be killed on the passenger side for every 10 adult lives saved - similar to the 1:7 ratio derived from current government statistics.