Toyoda Gosei airbag to improve driver safety

Kiyosu, Japan –  Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd has developed a driver-side airbag with a new structure that can more safely protect the occupant, the company has announced.

Loaded in the centre of the steering wheel, driver-side airbags inflate during frontal collisions to mitigate the impact on the driver’s head and chest, the company explained 28 July.

To better protect the occupant during angled frontal collisions, the new airbag uses a special donut-shaped structure to cradle and hold the head to reduce rotation, said Toyoda Gosei.

The design, it added, will help to meet the requirements of new car-assessment programmes in North America and elsewhere, which are expected to become stricter in the coming years.

The new airbag is already in use on the new Honda Civic, which was launched in North America in June 2021, noted Toyoda Gosei.

The company added that it will "continue to develop airbags [including those for] the increasingly diverse postures of vehicle occupants during autonomous driving.”