Topic summary
Airbags
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Airbag.
As a substitute for seat belts
Airbags for passenger cars were introduced in the United States in the 1970s. When seat-belt usage rates in the country were quite low compared to modern-day, Ford built experimental cars with airbags in 1971. Allstate operated a fleet of 200 Mercury Montereys and showed the reliability of airbags as well as their operation in crash testing, which also was promoted by the insurance company in popular magazine advertisements. General Motors followed in 1973 using full-sized Chevrolet vehicles. The early fleet of experimental GM vehicles equipped with airbags experienced seven fatalities, one of which was later suspected to have been caused by the airbag.