If you’ve ever pictured a side-impact crash, you probably imagined airbags and seatbelts doing their jobs. What you may not picture is the driver and front-seat passenger colliding with each other, which is exactly what a front-center airbag is built to prevent. The technology was first introduced here in the United States, yet a new InvestigateTV+ report finds that many American cars still don’t include it.
So why the gap? European crash tests that began in 2020 pushed automakers to make the feature widespread across the Atlantic. The U.S. doesn’t run that type of test, and regulators here have questioned whether a front-center airbag is necessary. The world’s largest auto safety supplier disagrees, saying lives are being lost unnecessarily. With more than 36,000 people killed on American roads last year, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the debate is hardly abstract, especially for those of us sharing U.S. 41 with heavy seasonal traffic.
Closer to home, the report also covers Phoenix’s goal to end traffic deaths by 2050, North Carolina’s loud exhaust enforcement, and the quiet way “convenient spending” drains household budgets. Next time you’re browsing new cars, check the safety spec sheet. Would you pay more for a front-center airbag, or should automakers include it as standard equipment?
