Keeping yourself and your passengers safe when travelling in a vehicle is of utmost importance. That is why many automakers have stepped up the standard safety features in their cars at an amazing pace over the last couple of decades. Now, perhaps you are thinking of selling your car quickly and easily here and search for new or used models on AutoTrader with the latest safety equipment. You can find out the difference between airbags and SRS airbags here.
Safely Restrained
The first point to make about so-called SRS Airbags and just-plain airbags is that there is no essential difference between the two. The name “SRS” stands for Supplemental Restraint System, and this logo appears on airbag location points in a modern motor car, most often found in the centre of the steering wheel and on the passenger side of the dashboard.
Some airbags don’t have an SRS logo, notably those found in the front occupant seat backrests, but these airbags operate in the same manner as all other modern airbags.
Related: How do airbags work?
The origin of this logo dates back to the early days of airbag installation in cars in the US, the first country to begin fitting airbags as standard equipment. This occurred on certain top-end models such as Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs as early as the mid-1970s. It was only in 1981 that Mercedes-Benz offered an airbag as an option on its top-end S-Class model; it was the first European manufacturer to offer an airbag.
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Why the SRS logo?
The SRS logo was devised to point out to American motorists, in particular, that airbags were not substitutes for seatbelts but designed to work in conjunction (as a supplementary device) with seat belts.
For some reason, Americans have shown great resistance over the years to the wearing of seatbelts. Even today, 40 years after seat belt laws became mandatory in most countries around the world, at least one American state (New Hampshire) does not have a law requiring adults to wear seat belts.
In the early days of airbag installation in cars in America, many American motorists assumed that the airbag was a substitute for “them pesky seat belts” and that there was no need to buckle up. Hence, the Supplemental Restraint System logo (SRS) was designed to inform motorists that seat belts remained the primary safety restraint system in a car and that the airbags were a secondary or supplementary passive safety system.
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Who invented the airbag?
The airbag for motorcars was patented as long ago as 1953 by an American, John Hetrick, who devised a system using a compressed air tank to inflate the airbag. Today, airbags are inflated using chemicals and a small explosive charge that is electronically triggered by crash sensors mounted at various points around the car.
Related: Can airbags be replaced?
Do all cars in South Africa have airbags?
As of December 2018, all new passenger cars sold in South Africa have at least one or two airbags for the front seat occupants. More luxurious cars have additional airbags for side impacts and curtain airbags that assist in minimising head injuries, and the most luxurious cars and SUVs have up to 10 airbags, including knee airbags.
With South Africa’s national “car park” averaging around 12 to 15 years, there are millions of cars and bakkies on our roads that don’t have airbags, and there is no legislation that insists on airbag fitment.
