English, 18 pages, 43 figures, 2 references
Keywords: airbag, passenger safety, used cars

In the first widely-supported investigation of passenger safety in used cars the airbag has been tested. The Dynamic Test Centre DTC subjected six representative vehicles of the lower middle class to a frontal crash. Three models performed with results comparable to those done with the corresponding new 1993 car. The others behaved on a different manner, partly due to mechanical wear and ageing, although all airbags fired.
One further crash test done with an older vehicle having no airbag showed that the same model with an airbag was generally more safety-relevant.
Even though the passive safety components lost protective effect by ageing and wear, the passenger protection was still present. The research proved that protective effect provided by old and partly “expired” airbags is still given.