Fh. Walz et al., AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT AND EYE PERFORATION BY A TOBACCO PIPE, The journal of trauma, injury, infection, and critical care, 38(4), 1995, pp. 498-501
Airbags have been shown to reduce injuries and save the lives of car o
ccupants in a crash. Like any protection system, airbags potentially i
ntroduce some new risks if no appropriate countermeasures are taken. A
case of a relatively moderate frontal impact is described where the d
river of an airbag-equipped car suffered a severe penetrating eye inju
ry after the airbag deployed. Since the airbag fabric itself was exclu
ded as an injury-producing structure, other objects such as eyeglasses
, a wristwatch, a bracelet, and a large finger ring had to be assessed
. The investigation of the car interior as well. as the morphologic de
tails of the injuries to the eye and the face revealed that the most l
ikely candidate for the injury was a tobacco pipe, which was probably
being held in one hand and was broken apart by the deploying airbag an
d projected into the face of the driver. This case illustrates the haz
ard of having any rigid object between the occupant and the deploying
airbag. The desirability of warning car occupants of the potential haz
ards which can result from today's protection systems is also discusse
d,