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no aribags deployed
- Thread starter HoustonTFamily
- Start date
Sorry to hear about the accident & hope your wife is fine!
I wonder if the force of impact was such that the airbags should not have deployed? The user’s manual reminds us that they will not deploy in all accidents.
Or do you and your wife feel like they definitely should have deployed, given the violence of the impact, and that something may have malfunctioned? It’s hard for us to tell from the photos since modern car exteriors crumple like tinfoil from small impacts.
I wonder if the force of impact was such that the airbags should not have deployed? The user’s manual reminds us that they will not deploy in all accidents.
Or do you and your wife feel like they definitely should have deployed, given the violence of the impact, and that something may have malfunctioned? It’s hard for us to tell from the photos since modern car exteriors crumple like tinfoil from small impacts.
The only thing that matters - is everyone OK?
Sorry about your car... but the people inside are the only thing that matter.
Airbags aren't meant to deploy in every situation. The SRS controller calculates angles, speeds and forces involved and determines whether the airbag would help protect the passenger or possibly cause more damage. Obviously we can't know without the data from the "black box" but these things are lot more nuanced than they appear on the surface..
Just hoping everyone is alright.
It was strong enough to push the car up into the curb and telephone pole. I didn't pay much attention first until the paramedics and police were commenting and surprised that the airbags didn't go off.
So, how is your wife? Is she ok? If she walked away from that accident with only minor (or no) injuries, then the car did exactly what it was supposed to, air bags deployed or not. I am not saying "you" think this way, but airbags deploying is a violent thing, with its own chance of injuries. They deploy basically to prevent catastrophic injury / death, with the understanding that possible injuries caused by the airbag are preferable to both those outcomes.
if the vehicle can protect the occupant without deploying the airbags, that is highly preferable. You might have an issue to be upset about if your wife suffered major injuries in that accident above and the airbags didnt go off. If she didnt, you dont, basically.
OP, my recommendation is to not post that video. You will thank me later.
mtndrew1
Active Member
Airbag deployment is based on the rate of deceleration, not severity of damage.
Looks like this was a glancing blow on the side which is probably why they didn’t go off. As someone who’s had a face full of airbag it’s best to keep them from deploying unless the jolt of the accident is such that they’re required to prevent serious injuries.
Was anyone injured?
Looks like this was a glancing blow on the side which is probably why they didn’t go off. As someone who’s had a face full of airbag it’s best to keep them from deploying unless the jolt of the accident is such that they’re required to prevent serious injuries.
Was anyone injured?
The severity of damage is caused by the rate of deceleration. According to the NHTSA air bags are generally designed to deploy in "moderate to severe" frontal or near-frontal crashes, which are defined as crashes that are equivalent to hitting a solid, fixed barrier at 8 to 14 mph or higher.
You think that crumpled front end was from a 7mph crash into that pole? Or you think the push from the side that drove her into the pole was less than that? Pft.
You think that crumpled front end was from a 7mph crash into that pole? Or you think the push from the side that drove her into the pole was less than that? Pft.
Very simply - was she seriously injured? We haven’t heard the answer to that yet. If the answer is no, then the airbag controller made the right call and nothing else matters.
If a car with an ICE crumpled like that, it was a huge impact and the bags should probably have gone off. That engine block would be shoved back into the passenger compartment, crushing the driver's legs.
But in a car with and empty frunk acting as a crumple zone, that's not so big an impact. The crumpling likely absorbed the shock, and detonating the air bag would have just caused the driver more harm.
