ty has become a priority for car buyers, automobile manufacturers, and government authorities. FMVSS 208 emphasizes automatic force/acceleration limitation for motor vehicle occupants. More specifically, the standards focus on "force/acceleration limitations in the head, chest, and femurs of a 50th-percentile dummy during specific vehicle barrier tests" (Frantom, 1989, pp. 116-118). At present, automatic seat belts and airbag restraints comprise the only two systems capable of complying with the standard. Thus, airbags are increasingly being installed as a supplemental restraint system to be used in conjunction with belts (Yang, Latouf, & King, 1992, p. 327). Moreover, there is direct evidence that airbags do actually work. One recent study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Va., examined 18,000 driver crash deaths during the period from 1985 to 1992. The investigators found 24 percent fewer fatalities than would have been expected in front and front-angle (i.e., 10 to 2 o'clock) collisions associated with airbag-equipped vehicles (Ashley, 1994, pp. 58-61).
As airbags become standard equipment in cars and light trucks, the airbag market should expand considerably. About 90 percent of 1994 model year cars contain at least a driver-side airbag. Automobile-industry analysts predict that the total number of airbag systems installed in motor vehicles will exceed 40 million by the year 1996. This figure amounts to a worldwide market totalling over $6.6 billion (Ashley, 1994, pp. 58-61).
The automotive airbag system is actually quite "a remarkable engineering achievement" (Ashley, 1994, pp. 58-61). Few automotive systems are subject to more extreme performance and reliability requirements (Meister & Womble, 1993, pp. 11-13). According to Geoffrey L. Mahon, vice president for technology at airbag supplier, Breed Automotive, in Boonton Township, N.J., "The airbag must never deploy when it ...