A side impact, or T-bone, most often happens at intersections when one car turns into the lane of another. When another vehicle comes barreling into you from the side, it is the deadliest place you can be in a car. Unlike a head-on crash, where you are protected by several feet of steel, engine and bumper, if you're hit from the side, all you have between you and the other vehicle is a few inches of door and some window glass.

All vehicles on the road today have to pass the government's side impact standard, but many people feel these standards are outdated. The government uses a dummy representing an average size male that doesn't register head injuries, and its test only looks at what happens when similar size vehicles collide. Manufacturers need to start making side impact airbags that protect the head standard in all vehicles. And in some cases, they also need to beef up their side structure to resist intrusion in these kinds of crashes.

Car makers have announced new “voluntary” side impact protection guidelines to go into effect by September 2007. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is working on a tougher standard for side impact crashes. But that standard will not require side airbags, even though studies show hundreds of lives could be saved each year with those evices.