Tests Show Ford’s Side Air Bags Reduce Risk of Serious Head Injury

WASHINGTON —  Side air bags on Ford Motor Co.’s 1999 models greatly reduce the likelihood of serious head injury to the driver in crash tests, a safety research institute said Tuesday.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is financed by insurers, crashed two 1999 model Lincoln Town Cars by hurtling them sideways into an upright pole that smashed into the driver’s side door.

In the first test, the car had no side air bag and the head injuries sustained by the dummy representing the driver were severe enough to cause death in an actual collision, institute President Brian O’Neill said.

In the second test, the side air bag cushioned the dummy’s head from the force of the crash, making it “survivable despite the [crash’s] severity,” O’Neill said.

Side air bags are standard equipment on the 1999 Lincoln Continental and Town Car. Ford has started offering them with head protection as options in front seats of some of its more popular vehicles, including the 1999 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicles, Ford Windstar minivans and the Jaguar XJ8 and X200.

Side air bags with head protection also are on BMWs, Saabs, Volvos and some Mercedes-Benz models.

Some auto makers offer side air bags that protect the chest area rather than the head. Ford’s side air bags are designed to do both, deploying from the side of the seat and inflating upward and forward, said Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Flake.

Manufacturers such as BMW and Volvo also are designing side air bags to try to prevent passengers from being ejected out a window during rollover crashes.