USA's NHTSA says this new Honda airbag design is the best - working like a baseball catcher's mitt

Cars are tested for frontal collision protection in a controlled lab, at speeds of around 64 km/h. In the real-world however, there are many factors that can reduce the effectiveness of an airbag in preventing severe head injuries.

There could be multiple vehicles involved, the impact could be from a different angle, and there could be secondary impacts following the initial one.

At high speeds, the passengerā€™s torso may sometimes slide across the inflated airbagā€™s surface and hit a hard surface.

A new three-chamber front-passenger airbag design by Honda seeks to mitigate this.

Honda safety engineer named Eric Heitkamp was recently awarded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Safety Engineering Excellence Award for his work on developing a ground-breaking airbag technology.

Honda's new front passenger airbag technology is designed to better manage lateral collision forces that can cause an occupant's head to rotate severely at high velocity and slide off a conventional airbag, increasing the chance of serious injury. Heitkamp led development of the new airbag utilizing new research measuring brain injuries in vehicle collisions

Rather than the single inflatable chamber of conventional front passenger airbag systems, the new airbag operates something like a baseball catcher's mitt, with an uninflated panel first catching and decelerating the occupant's head with less force, while also directing it inward between two inflated chambers to cradle and protect the head. Specifically, the new passenger front airbag uses four major components: three inflated compartments consisting of a center chamber and two outward-projecting side chambers that create a wide base across the dash and the uninflated ā€œsail panel" that stretches between the two side chambers.

Heitkamp accepted the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence at the 2023 Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) conference in Yokohama, Japan. Designed to decrease the chance of serious brain injury.

Since 2021, the new passenger front airbag technology has been installed in the Acura TLX. It has since been introduced in the Acura MDX and Honda Pilot in the US.

If you are wondering about Honda models in other markets - US market cars have different airbags from the rest of the world, even if it's a same model, due to intricasies of US regulations.

While the rest of the country adopts a more sensible Euro-centric UNECE regulations, USA's FMVSS regulations require airbags to work without seatbelts. Believe it or not, the state of New Hampshire does not require seat belts to be worn.

Oops... Something broke.
    Channel:
Follow our socials:
Hans

Head of Content

Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6...

Get a deal on your trade in within 24 hours!

users traded-in for dream car
Add your car

Upgrade

Proton Persona

Related Used Car

Quality Cars Guaranteed

Fixed Price No Hidden Fees

5-Day Money-back Guarantee

1-Year Warranty

View More

Related Short Videos

Latest News

8% service tax: Car maintenance cost likely to go up in 2024, continuity of free service packages in doubt

Yesterdayā€™s tabling of Budget 2024 proposed for the current service tax rate of 6 percent to be increased to 8 percent. The scope of the new service tax will also be expanded to include logistics, meaning that the cost to transport finished cars and automotive parts will be higher next year. Details on effective implementation date, or guidelines for car workshops are still lacking so we will have to wait for a separate announcement from Customs. The use of the term service tax is also causing a

Review: Chery Omoda 5 in Malaysia - Bang-for-buck hero does its best to exorcise ghosts of Chery's past

Something about rising tides and lifting boats paints the picture of the Chinese car industry, and among the pleathora of startup small boats rolling into the vast sea you have your vessels; built on the back of years of trial and error, no doubt buoyed with a full coffer. Of course, for a fair few companies, the motivation to chart new waters is to correct missteps of years prior. 儇ē‘ž, or Chery to you and I, will know very well what the latter means. Yesteryear's QQ and A160 were a crack at the

Burning Proton X70 incident: Car now in Proton's possession, cause and findings to be updated after investigations

Proton has issued a statement in regards to a recent viral video, in which a Proton X70 caught fire. The particular vehicle is in the company's possession already. Further findings will be announced upon completion of investigation. Here is the statement in full, released on 13-October 2023: "Proton would like to issue a statement with regards to a video currently circulating depicting a thermal incident on a new Proton X70. We are aware of the incident and would like to thank concerned parties

Gentari wants to expand hydrogen supply biz, welcomes Budget 2024's recognition for EV and home solar services

Following todayā€™s tabling of Budget 2024, Petronasā€™ green energy arm Gentari welcomes the recognition by Prime Minister Anwar when Gentariā€™s contribution to Malaysia was highlighted. Gentari CEO Sushil Purohit said, ā€œGentari is proud to be recognised in Budget 2024, a testament to our growing role in Malaysiaā€™s clean energy ecosystem since our launch last year. We observe with great optimism the clean energy transition initiatives and incentives etched within Malaysiaā€™s Budget 2024 and it is par

BMW Group Malaysia claims No.1 premium EV brand title for 2023, welcomes spending on charging facilities and TVET upskilling

BMW Group Malaysia has sold over 1,700 units of fully electric BMW i and MINI EV models in the first eight months of 2023, a sum which the company says positions it as the No.1 Premium EV provider in the country. In response to todayā€™s tabling of Budget 2024, Managing Director Hans de Visser welcomes the extension of income tax relief for expenses on EV charging facilities. ā€œLooking to the future, the need to accelerate the adoption of EVs as a greener and more efficient solution to transportati

Recommended Cars

PopularLatestUpdates
Hot
Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Xpander

RM 99,980

View Model
Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63

RM 2,088,888

View Model
Honda

Honda Civic Type R

RM 330,002 - 399,900

View Model
Upcoming
Volvo

Volvo EX30

TBC

View Model
Rolls Royce

Rolls Royce Spectre

RM 2,000,000

View Model