OT-anybody ever get airbagged?

Mark

I've heard of people blowing the bags on farm trucks while just driving over rough ground alittle fast.

I think it's illegal to disable the bags yourself, and definatly illegal to sell the vehicle that way afterwards. Don't know exactly why, it's your vehicle, so you should be able to do what you want with it.

It's how fast you slow down.

Generally "5mph" is the rule of thumb, but I've seen cases where it was much slower, but the physics of the accident were such they triggered the types of momentum changes that will deploy the airbags. (And yes, most of them today are triggered by a variety of sensors that sense *change*, not just an impact -- I guess in a ultra simplfied model think of a whole bunch of mercury switches that need to get jostled instead of a on/off toggle)

One of the more tragic "mis-fires" I've seen is the daughter of one our Fire Company's Lieutenants -- pulled out of her driveway, didn't see a car coming and got T-boned. No way in heck she could've been doing more than a few miles an hour, the airbag forced glass from the broken side window into her eye. Many operations later, probably will never regain anything more than seeing shadows in that eye. Other one is fine.

The sudden slowdown of her minimal forward speed combined with the lateral acceleration from the impact caused the computer to decide it was a different kind of accident then it really was -- and it was appropriate for the bags to go off.

Eye & facial injuries like that is something that is statistically up.

Over time, these accidental trips will get fewer and fewer. All the GM vehicles, and I'd assume everyone pretty soon, have chips in them that continually record the last 15 seconds or so. So the engineers can take them after an accident, analyze what the forces where acting on the car, and try to program a better algorithm. (And as time goes by, you'll see a lot more court presentations with the "Well, here's what the chips say -- person #1 was travelling at 38.4 mph and applied the brakes 0.78 seconds before the collission while person #2 was traveling at 45.5 mph, took his foot off the accelerator 0.2 seconds before the collission, but had not yet applied the brakes...)

On the balance, they save lives hands down.

I've been involved with the fire department some 18 years. Over that time I first noticed the number of fatal accidents declined (still can remember one of our first "air bag" calls in the early 90s being amazed she lived!). One big thing though was a lot of broken ankles from the way they designed the cars to crumple. Ankle injuries are going down now though as the Engineers figure out ways to crumple the cars without crumpling the ankles.

We've also had to increase the time we find "acceptable" to extricate someone -- used to 10 minutes and you'd have some 'splaining to do what took so long to the Chiefs afterwards. Today 15, 20 minutes with more and better tools and that's not unacceptable performance -- the injuries aren't as severe, but you can't get the friggin' person out!

Just amazes me how, for as much as we may complain about new fangled stuff, how much safer each generation of cars have been becoming over the last decade-and-a-half.

The sensors feed a logic unit, and the logic unit puts together as much as it knows (more expensive the car, more it knows...like weight of the passenger, seat position, seat belt use to determine when, if, and in some systems how strongly to inflate the bag).

My 20 year old daughter was in a accident Feb.7 of this year. A bobtail truck turned left in front of her and she hit the right rear wheels. The air bags went off and yes she did get some (well a lot of) black and blue marks. In fact the marks are just now going away enough that you can not see them. (6 weeks later) But she was able to walk away with nothing more than bumps and bruises.
Car was totaled because it had $6800 damage.
Made a believer of air bags out of me.

He was sliding on ice, so the car was probably doing a pretty constant velocity right up until it suddenly stopped.

Going the same speed, with the brakes working (well, traction so the brakes work!), the 'puter would've seen the car slowing down so the same speed at time of impact probably wouldn't have tripped the airbags.

Guess they need a few more sensors and some better computer formulas to decide, "Hmmm, I must be sliding on ice, so I'm allowed XX speed more at time of impact before I go off..."

Blew the bags....there went the windshield. With used parts and in my shop at home....could've had her going for less than a grand. Insurance totaled her out with almost 4,000 of damage due to windshield and both bags.

I was hit head on by a drunk almost a year ago. I sit far away from the wheel and wear my belt so I got carpet burns on my arms and hurt my wrists when they were thrown off the wheel. My forehead lightly kissed the bag. I did pop a lung and break a bunch of ribs from the seatbelt.

My father was sleeping in the pass. seat reclined a few notches. His belt broke and he hit the bag HARD. It in my opinion saved his life. He did nearly die from other internal injuries and spent a week plus in intensive care.

The car crumpled perfectly in front, engine slinding underneath. The doors opened fine with the lever, swung open. Foot well good shape too.

I still think a good car doesn't need front bags but many of the detroit offering can't pass the tests without bags.

The side curtain bags from what I have seen are proving to be incredible at preventing head injury in t-bone accidents. The seat belt has no power in that situation.