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Airbags and seat belts essentials:
Life-saving tips from Bosch

25 years of Bosch airbags

"Airbag 10" Electronic Control Unit
From subcompact to luxury cars

Bosch started the worldwide first production of an airbag ECU in large scale. In 1980, the unit consisted of three components with some 170 parts and merely controlled a single airbag at the driver.s seat. The new ECU Airbag 10 (upper photo) is some 70% smaller, consists of a single component and is made of 85 parts in the basic version. Up to 24 restraint devices for the protection of all vehicle occupants can be connected. Airbag 10 will be supplied to customers from 2007.

The innovation is rather low key: Airbag 10 is a compact unit by Bosch – the latest generation of the electronic control unit for restraint systems such as airbag and seat-belt tensioner.

Airbag 10 will be supplied to customers starting in 2007. At the same time, 2005 is a year of anniversary. 25 years ago, Bosch started the worldwide 1st production of an airbag ECU in large scale.

In 1980, the unit consisted of three components with some 170 parts and merely controlled a single airbag at the driver's seat. The new ECU Airbag 10 is some 70 percent smaller, consists of a single component and is made of 85 parts in the basic version. Up to 24 restraint devices for the protection of all vehicle occupants can be connected, the highly integrated electronics process data much faster – thus enabling the integration of additional functions. Even pedestrian protection electronics as well as rollover and interior occupant sensors can be integrated into the new system. The sensorics for the car interior, for example, can recognize whether the passenger seat is occupied or a child safety seat has been placed there. The new restraint systems control Airbag 10 is suitable for all vehicle classes – from subcompact to luxury sedan.

A brief airbag history - The accident statistics of the Fifties and Sixties raised calls for a better protection of driver and passengers. The first technical solution in this respect was the safety belt. The next step brought the development of the airbag. First patents for an inflatable airbag were filed as early as in the Fifties. Bosch became actively involved in this field in the Seventies and entered its comprehensive know-how in the interaction of mechanics and electronics. The system started on its victorious course with the first installation of an airbag in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 1980. Nowadays, there is hardly a new car to be found without at least one airbag, and in many countries, this passive restraint system has become mandatory.

Motion Trends,
PR, 29 August 2005

Airbag protection in a crash is a great blessing. Its life saving function is assured by extreme technical precision. In an emergency, the airbag control system from Bosch works at lightning speed to inflate the protective airbag and control the belt pretensioner, belt preloader, roll bar and other protective devices.

Maximum safety, however, is only assured if the driver and front passenger are sitting in the correct position.

Whether an airbag really does save lives in an emergency depends on the correct behaviour of the car’s driver and passengers.

Fasten your seat belt - An airbag is certainly not a substitute for a seat belt. Even in a car with airbags, always fasten your seat belt before setting off. For instance: If a car first has a frontal collision and then impacts another obstacle, the frontal airbag will only open during the first collision and can no longer help during the second. In this case, head and/or side airbags offer additional protection. But your seat belt protects you all the time.

Sit correctly... even as a passenger - A distance of at least 30 cm is required to ensure ideal airbag protection. The driver's seat should not be placed too close to the steering wheel, while the backrest should not be angled too steeply. This is the only way to ensure that the driver is caught by the airbag when fully inflated and protected optimally in a crash.

Front-seat passengers should also move their seats as far back as possible and sit upright. Do not put your feet on the dashboard during the journey. Otherwise, the airbag can not unfold properly and will only push your legs back (which can cause injury).

Avoid smoking during your journey. An inflating airbag could push the cigarette into your face.

Do not decorate your dashboard with hard objects. The airbag lid bursts off very quickly and could turn them into dangerous projectiles.

Head and side airbags - Additional precautions should be taken if your vehicle is also equipped with head and/or side airbags in the doors or seat back. Do not lean your head or shoulder against the door during your journey, since the airbag will not have enough space to inflate and will only push you away instead. Do not use seat covers that also cover the airbags, and do not hang any coat hangers or other hard objects on the clothes hooks.

Children in the car - Protect your children by using sleep supports or good children's seats that are fitted on the back seat and match the child’s size.

Never fit a backward-facing ("reboard") children's seat to a seat with an airbag in front. Reboards are catapulted backwards by the inflating airbag along with the child, which can cause grave injury, if the child faces backwards.

Only a few luxury cars automatically deactivate the airbag when a reboard is in use - and only if the device has a manufacturer permit and is equipped with an electronic mini-transmitter that sends an appropriate command to the airbag electronics.