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I'm not sure that's the case with modern cars. Watch any crash test video and you can see the airbag prevents you from hitting the steering wheel. I believe they put more give in the seatbelts than they used to so that you decelerate more gently. I believe cars also have two stage front airbags that deploy more violently for unbelted passengers.I don't know the specifics of the safety systems in the Model 3 but airbags are triggered by acceleration sensors. The nature of this crash didn't generate enough acceleration to set off the front or side airbags. It was a glancing blow that caused crumpling of the external portion of the car. There does not appear to be any significant passenger compartment intrusion. There wasn't enough perpendicular force on the left side of the car to setoff the lateral sensors and not enough force forward/backwards to trigger those sensors either.
Furthermore, front airbags are primarily designed to protect people who are not wearing safety belts. Having them go off in crashes that don't involved enough front/back impact could cause harm or death in occupants. Side airbags are helpful whether restrained or not but are also primarily focused on unrestrained occupants.
I'm not sure that's the case with modern cars. Watch any crash test video and you can see the airbag prevents you from hitting the steering wheel. I believe they put more give in the seatbelts than they used to so that you decelerate more gently. I believe cars also have two stage front airbags that deploy more violently for unbelted passengers.
To me that crash doesn't look bad enough to deploy the airbags either.
Something tells me a guy without insurance running from police in a high speed chase probably doesn't have a whole lot of assets. Haha.If someone ever hits me with no insurance, they better hope the police get to him before I do.
Sue him!!! SUE SUE SUE. Sue him, his family, his house, his dog, etc. Take all you can get, I would!
I got hit in the same front quarter in my old Toyota Prius a few years ago. The other driver was a DUI and was traveling in the on-coming lane and hit us in the same spot but a glancing blow - very similar looking damage. No airbags deployed (no injuries) and we sent the data recorder files to Toyota and they confirmed the force was not great enough in a direction to cause injury so no airbags. Unfortunately my car was also totaled.
If someone ever hits me with no insurance, they better hope the police get to him before I do.
Sue him!!! SUE SUE SUE. Sue him, his family, his house, his dog, etc. Take all you can get, I would!
It's probably because you were hit where sensor(s) weren't able to detect a significant risk of injury to deploy air bags. But it would be good to reach out to higher management contacts in Tesla, last resort Elon Musk to get a better understanding why the air bags didn't deploy. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar to my guess.
It may be advantageous that they didn't deploy. You didn't indicate any serious injury, which is an indication that they didn't need to deploy. If they had deployed, it would have been possible that you may have received worse injuries. Airbags deploy like a ton of bricks and can cause serious injuries, but still save you from life-threatening injuries.
You were in a highly atypical accident. The impact was in the forward direction and located at the front left corner.From a motion point of view, the impact straightened out the direction of travel. The SRS system would not be tuned for this situation.
From the article @C141medic posted Air bags are not designed to help when you are rear-ended since the impact force pushes you into the seat. In those cases, their only benefit would be during the rebound event. (Or if you then collide with a vehicle in front, in which case you would not want them to deploy prematurely)
Did your seatbelt tighten up? When my airbags in my S deployed, my seatbelt sucked me against my seat too which would help prevent head hitting I would think.
I know the seatbelts tightened because I was still stuck up against the seat after the accident and had to unbuckle to move.
I would be concerned if your belt didnt perform the same.
Glad you didn't get any serious injury. As stated above it maybe the impact angle didn't warrant air bag deployment. Did your glove box open, or otherwise did the car detect the accident?
If someone ever hits me with no insurance, they better hope the police get to him before I do.
Sue him!!! SUE SUE SUE. Sue him, his family, his house, his dog, etc. Take all you can get, I would!
Think I saw the guy running from the police on TV. Started in Manhattan Beach and went towards LA.
Guy in stolen car was driving like a crazy person. Sideswiped several other cars. Was traveling at high speeds and running Red lights.
Police fell back and terminated the close persuit for safety. Almost hit several pedestrians.
Not sure how it ended, but I was amazed that he did not crash out.
Glad you are OK.
Due to the way you were hit, the airbags probably were not triggered. No fault here. Glad you had your seat belt on. The Tesla safety systems worked well and there was no intrusion into the passenger cell.
Bright side, you could order the AWD or P version now.
glad to hear you are ok. hoping tesla puts you at the front of the line for a replacement
It all happened so fast, so I don't remember them tightening up. I feel like I probably wouldn't have hit my head on the steering wheel if they'd tightened
I got hit in the same front quarter in my old Toyota Prius a few years ago. The other driver was a DUI and was traveling in the on-coming lane and hit us in the same spot but a glancing blow - very similar looking damage. No airbags deployed (no injuries) and we sent the data recorder files to Toyota and they confirmed the force was not great enough in a direction to cause injury so no airbags. Unfortunately my car was also totaled.
When I called my service center, they said I'll have to put in a new reservation and wait. Luckily I have a second reservation that I can use (was supposed to be for my parents, but they said I can use it).