Beyond Seat Belts

The next time you buy a car, think seriously about opting for side air bags. They're not as sexy as GPS screens, but a new report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety finds that they save lives and may ultimately be as vital as seat belts — especially when they offer head protection. Every year, 9,000 people in the U.S. die in side-impact car crashes. That's 30% of all auto-occupant deaths. The institute's report is the first to assess the real-world efficacy of side air bags. Using government data on driver's-side collisions, it found that drivers whose vehicles had side air bags with head protection were 53% less likely to die than those without them. Air bags that did not protect the head were far less effective.