The sound of the deployment of an interseat airbag is about that of a 12-gauge shotgun.
Hyundai says that it has completed the development of an interseat airbag, aka center airbag, which reduces head injuries to passengers by more than 80% during a lateral collision. An interseat airbag protects passengers on the opposite side of the contact point.
General Motors introduced the industry’s first front center airbag, aka interseat, on the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse mid-size crossovers during the 2013 model year.
The GM front center air bag explodes from the right side of the driver’s seat and then positions itself between the front row seats near the center of the vehicle.
In case of a lateral collision, the passenger can be protected by the curtain airbag or the side airbag, but the person next to him or her may sustain a critical injury their head against the other passenger’s shoulder or head. As these kinds of cases have been reported, the European automotive safety evaluation program, aka Euro NCAP, said in 2014 that it strongly recommends interseat airbags.
Hyundai is about to complete the development of technology for a so-called dual mode for the collision between the driver and the passenger, and a single mode for the lateral collision when the driver is alone in the car. Even though the driver may be alone in the car, if there is a strong enough collision from the right-hand side, the driver will be thrown towards the passenger’s seat due to inertia. The driver’s head can hit the thrusting contact surface in some cases.
Because of this safety problem, Euro NCAP is considering collision safety evaluations from 2020 that measure single mode forces. Unlike competitors who respond to the single and dual mode with respective airbags, Hyundai is planning to integrate the two modes with one module and differentiate itself from global.
Head Injury Criteria
For example, when a large 1,350kg car collides into the driver’s side at a speed of 50km/h, the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) for the head of the passenger far from the contact point is 1,700~1900, two or three times greater than the HIC of the driver, which is 600~800. HIC 1,000, a Euro safety standard, corresponds to a serious injury, such as the fracture of the skull.
Hyundai claims its interseat airbag reduces the HIC sustained by the head of the passenger in the same situation by more than 80% to ~HIC 300. As the inter-seat airbag installed to the right of the driver’s seat is deployed, the head of the passenger contacts the airbag cushion, not the driver’s shoulder, and the passenger receives an impact that will cause only a light abrasion. This is much lower than HIC 500, Euro NCAP’s top safety level.
