Nicole

Problem is that very few people realize what an airbag is, how it functions, and what not to do in a car that has airbags. The advertisements suggest an airbag is a sift cushion into which you gently fall in case of an accdient. That all this really happens in a few miliseconds, the forces are often beyond 30g (think: 30 times your weight), and that the airbag flies towards you at speeds of 100-200mph - that eludes most drivers and passengers until something happens.

Then they have their left hand at the top of the sterring wheel (Macho position, with right hand busy elsewhere), hold the wheel at the spokes, sit too close to the steering wheel, or passengers have their feet on the dash. Kaboom!

A safety system never provides automatic safety regaardless of the ignorance of the user. I personally prefer to have extra safety sytems on board for the worst case, and educate myself about them. Then I use my car accordingly (I pull my safety belt tight quite often while I drive, and try to maintain a reasonable distance to the steering wheel, while keeping my hands on each side of the wheel).

Others might make different choices.

The problem comes with liability in the case of severe accidents. If you kill someonen you are liable for much more damage than if somebody breaks a nose from an airbag deployment. Airbags no doubt save lives in severe accidents, but a small accident with a badly designed airbag, or a driver/passenger "misbehaving" can do more damage. Safety is not free. Free is only death - except you have to pay for with your life.

gjm

I posted this to the 928.org.uk site a while ago:

"The first airbag fitted to a customer-sold, production line vehicle was in a 1980 S-class Mercedes. It took Merc 13 years to develop technology suitable for public use.
Development of airbags for use in cars began at Mercedes back in 1967. Deployment of an airbag in an appropriate time - less than 30 milliseconds - meant development of several new technologies, not least the fabric used for the bag. Explosive inflation ripped or tore most fabrics and those fabrics originally used will have deteriorated in the last 25 years - take a piece of canvas, fold it tightly in an enclosed space, and see how long it lasts!

Early airbags used a powder, similar to talcum, to stop the folds of the bag sticking to each other. Over time, damp plays a part in reducing the powder's effectiveness, causing a reduction in effectiveness of the airbag deployment system.

Volvo increased the replacement interval for their airbags from 10 to 15 years as recently as 2005, but still require the system to be checked after 10 years."

Graham
'84 Strosek auto

bdstott

Here's a non-conventional deployment of an airbag in a Mercedes:

http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/890

Nicole

I've seen this a few times, and it makes no sense. Unless the old lady carries a bowling ball, and hits that Mercedes just in the right spot, I can't see how this would happen. Also, I'm surprised how long the bag stays deployed - that's inconsistent with what I've been reading and seeing elsewhere. The bags are supposed to deflate again almost instantly.

So, I'm wondering, if this was staged, or if there was a defect on that car's airbag system.

I've bumped another car harder than this once, and my airbags did not deploy.

SharkSkin

Nicole, just laugh and fuggedaboutit...