DALLAS, Tex. – Designed to minimize the often tragic results of rollover accidents, Freightliner Trucks has introduced a new tubular side airbag system on its Century Class S/T and Argosy heavy-duty models.

“More than half of all heavy-truck driver fatalities occur during rollover accidents,” says Gary Rossow, director of government technical affairs for Freightliner LLC, parent company of Freightliner trucks. “The tubular side airbag system addresses a leading cause of those deaths.”

During such accidents, the truck driver’s head and body typically are propelled upwards and sideways as the truck proceeds through the rollover. Extensive crash testing has proven that even wearing a seatbelt still leaves the driver vulnerable to injury when their head strikes the left side of the truck’s interior.

To reduce the hazard, the new airbag inflates to 2.3 feet in length, extending from the A-post to upper B-post, covering the upper side window and the surfaces above it. The operator’s head is cushioned before it has a chance to collide with the door or other interior components. n