Blindness caused by airbag in a minor accident

Purpose. Installation of airbags has reduced the rate of fatal injuries in severe automobile accidents. We report, however, severe ocular injuries in a minor accident as the result of an airbag. Case Report. A front passenger suffered a blunt ocular trauma of her right eye during a collision. The approaching speed was about 31 km/h. The maximu m change of velocity in direction of the impact was 19 km/h. Color traces w ere found on the upper rim of the airbag, apparently from the patient's eye shadow. Results In the emergency room, visual acuity was reduced to light perceptio n. There was endothelial contusion, traumatic mydriasis, and lens subluxati on. A sclopetarian retinopathy developed with a chorioretinal scar. Eight m onths after the accident visual acuity remained at light projection only. Conclusions. The eye injuries had very probably been caused by the deployin g airbag. Improvements are a better geometry of deployment (e.g., tethered airbags), release at higher impacts only, and "intelligent systems" with ad ditional sensors to avoid potentially hazardous airbag inflation in minor a ccidents.