Walz F H, Mackay M, Gloor B
Institute for Legal Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
J Trauma. 1995 Apr;38(4):498-501. doi: 10.1097/00005373-199504000-00006.
Airbags have been shown to reduce injuries and save the lives of car occupants in a crash. Like any protection system, airbags potentially introduce some new risks if no appropriate countermeasures are taken. A case of a relatively moderate frontal impact is described where the driver of an airbag-equipped car suffered a severe penetrating eye injury after the airbag deployed. Since the airbag fabric itself was excluded as an injury-producing structure, other objects such as eyeglasses, a wrist-watch, a bracelet, and a large finger ring had to be assessed. The investigation of the car interior as well as the morphologic details of the injuries to the eye and the face revealed that the most likely candidate for the injury was a tobacco pipe, which was probably being held in one hand and was broken apart by the deploying airbag and projected into the face of the driver. This case illustrates the hazard of having any rigid object between the occupant and the deploying airbag. The desirability of warning car occupants of the potential hazards which can result from today's protection systems is also discussed.
安全气囊已被证明在碰撞中能减少车内人员的受伤情况并挽救生命。与任何保护系统一样，如果不采取适当的应对措施，安全气囊可能会带来一些新的风险。本文描述了一个相对中等程度的正面碰撞案例，在配备安全气囊的汽车中，安全气囊展开后，驾驶员眼部遭受了严重的穿透性损伤。由于安全气囊织物本身被排除为造成伤害的结构，因此必须对眼镜、手表、手镯和大戒指等其他物品进行评估。对汽车内部的调查以及眼部和面部损伤的形态学细节显示，最有可能造成伤害的物品是一根烟斗，它可能被驾驶员握在一只手中，并被展开的安全气囊击碎，然后射向驾驶员的面部。这个案例说明了在驾乘人员与展开的安全气囊之间存在任何刚性物体的危险性。本文还讨论了向汽车驾乘人员警示当今保护系统可能导致的潜在危险的必要性。
