Seat Belts and Airbags Help Protect the Kidneys

The combined use of airbags and seatbelts reduced the risk of serious kidney injuries by about 23% in a study of motor vehicle accident injuries in 2010 and 2011 from the National Trauma Data Bank. Injured vehicle occupants without a protective device had a 44.3% rate of high grade renal injury compared with a 40.1% rate for those only wearing seat belts, a 42.3% rate for those protected by airbags, and a 34.1% rate for those protected by both seat belts and airbags. The findings were presented at the 109ᵗʰ Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association.