Enacted on Wednesday (18), by the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Law 11.910/09, which renders mandatory the installation of front airbags in vehicles produced in Brazil or imported, will be totally enacted within at least five years. That is the term for the car assemblers and importers to adapt to that rule after its regulation by the National Traffic Council (Contran). The measure was approved by the Chamber in February.

That device is already an obligatory safety item in countries such as the United States, and its importance has already been recognized by experts in Brazil. “The airbag could avoid, by year, 490 drivers’ deaths (1.4% of the 35,000 people who die in car accidents per year) and 10,150 light injuries” affirms the safety supervisor of the Center for Experimentation and Roads’ Safety (Cesvi Brasil), José Antonio Oka

Last year, he coordinated a research on the influence of airbags on the reduction of casualties in accidents. Another conclusion of the study is about saving money: Cesvi calculated that R$90,000,000 would be saved per year in expenses with health care, for instance, caused by the injuries that would be avoided and the lives saved.

Complementary use
According to data collected by Cesvi Brasil, the vehicles furnished with airbag represented from 4% to 4.7% of the Brazilian fleet of cars and trucks in 2007. Despite the low percentage, the General Secretary of the Brazilian Society on Orthopedics and Traumatology (Sbot), Flávio Faloppa, believes in the popularization of that item, such as it happened with the seatbelt, and, more recently, with the automatic transmission in vehicles.

Faloppa defends all equipment which could prevent casualties, but stresses that the use of airbags should complement the seatbelt.

Costs
For the doctor, the incorporation costs of that new item in vehicles are less important in the discussion if compared to the amount of lives saved, and the saving in health-care expenses.

Deputy Hugo Leal (PSC-RJ), who was the rapporteur on the bill of the new law at the Chamber, though, minimizes that preoccupation. With the popularization of the airbags, he says, their costs should drop. The installation of airbags costs currently around R$2000.

Report - Noéli Nobre
Editing - Regina Céli Assumpção
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda