by Dr. Radut

Out of Position? Beware the Airbag!

Published by DriveSmartBC -

AirbagOut of sight, out of mind. This is a phrase that we often use to describe something that is easily dismissed or not important unless it is not in our direct view. The airbags in our vehicles definitely fall into this category, but this should not be the case. If they are ignored, they can hurt as much as they help during a collision.

If I were to place a bet on whether you had read the entire section in your vehicle's owner's manual about airbags I would bet that you haven't. I make this guess based on what I see happening around me in traffic when I travel. You would not be a front seat passenger with your feet up on the dash if you truly understood what would happen to you if that airbag deployed. Ditto with a pillow against the B pillar sleeping if your vehicle has side curtain airbags.

An airbag deployment is really a controlled explosion. It has to be ready in the blink of an eye in order to get between you and your vehicle in time to protect you. Remember, the trigger occurs after the start of the collision with whatever you are colliding with and the force of deployment is significant.

You may consider it too boring to bother with but it may fall into the category of "you'll be glad that you did." If you haven't read your vehicle's owner's manual about seatbelts and airbags, it's time to dig it out now. The education is worth your time and could save you from serious injury.

Reference Links:

Published by taxi driver (not verified) - 2012/08/03 - 08:42 | Permalink

I could,nt resist,,,Imagine the drivers with thier cut cuddly little Family Pets on their Laps While Driving,,Now Imagine beiing ONE with Your pet!!

That Airbag does,nt care how cuddly your Pet is sitting in your lap while you are driving,,It will Squish your little pet against you quicker than you can blink.    How Cute Now?

The Other thing that realy gets me with airbags is the Passenger Airbag that is more on the top of the dashboard,(example Sunfires) When you crash the airbag takes out the Windshield litteraly. I thought that the windshield was supposed to be part of safety Intergatey of the automobile.Who,s the Engineer that thought this out clearly?

This Blows my mind as much as it will blow out your windshield,,Ever seen this? The passenger window looks like someones head went right into it.

Published by CompetentDrivingBC - 2014/11/22 - 13:39 | Permalink

The Other thing that realy gets me with airbags is the Passenger Airbag that is more on the top of the dashboard,(example Sunfires) When you crash the airbag takes out the Windshield litteraly. I thought that the windshield was supposed to be part of safety Intergatey of the automobile.Who,s the Engineer that thought this out clearly?

The windshield does indeed provide integrity; and it's actually a more complex piece of engineering than you might think.  It's designed to provide structural integrity in case of a rollover, for instance; that's why if a glass shop ever replaces one they're not supposed to give you the car back until the specialized glue that's used to secure it has had sufficient chance to cure.

But certainly prior to the invention of airbags - and this may still be the case, I'm not sure - it's designed to be 'softer' in the areas where a driver's or passenger's head would hit it in a hard collision, to mitigate the impact on the person.

The job of the airbag is, in the event of a hard collision causing sudden deceleration of forward movement, to instantaneously place an impact-absorbing protection ahead of the front seat occupants.  It will deflate almost as fast as it inflates, job done (that way it doesn't suffocate them).  It uses the windshield as a backstop, which is why it will probably damage it; but windshield integrity doesn't matter, unless there's a rollover; and that's going to be pretty unlikely in this kind of collision, following the first hard hit.

Wanna see a nifty presentation about airbags?  Check this out!

Safety Equipment