.
restrained occupants was found to be somewhat lower at 62%. One
explanation for this observation could be that non-airbag equipped
vehicles tend to be older model year vehicles; other researchers have
linked non-use of seatbelts to older vehicles (Reinfurt, Williams, Wells,
& Rodgman, 1996). These results confirm that airbag deployment is
not a rare event in tow-away longitudinal barrier collisions and that
a majority of occupants wear safety belts. Although theflail space
model continues to be used to evaluate occupant risk in full-scale
roadside hardware tests, it does not account for either of these occupant restraint types.