The problem is the gov't requires that the air bag stop an adult not wearing a seat belt. So they deploy with a lot of force.
The requirement of stopping an adult without a seat belt in not universally required. I believe Europe requires stopping an adult wearing a seat belt. Deployment under this requirement is less lethal. This makes more sense to me.
"The problem is the gov't requires that the air bag stop an adult not wearing a seat belt"
Right, and a male adult too. With a weight of about 160 lbs. iirc.
From this article it sounds like they should do something with the cars so that the airbag will not deploy unless the car is going above a certain rate of speed. I think that would improve their death statistics a good deal.
Our new car has a sensor with the passenger side airbag, it only becomes functional if a full sized/weight person sits there. So if you, for whatever reason, have to put a little kid in that seat the bag is not functional. It's not an on/off switch though.