Accident : No Airbag??

[SyxXPaC]

Hey Guys,

A friend had an accident in her corolla. Sent me some pics. Just wanting some feeddback based on the pics.

Should the airbags have gone off?? She hit a parked car doing 80kph and suffered extensive whiplash.

What do you guys think?

[buzziesportivo]

hey there first not good to see a corolla in a crash but it dose happen hey .. to me dosent look like a 80k crash to me as i hit a kangaroo at 80 not so long as go .. and our airbags didnt go off ether .. just depends on the impact .. but as far as im aware that it should go off from any speed over 35 kph .. hope this mite help you out cheers buzzie

[SyxXPaC]

hey there first not good to see a corolla in a crash but it dose happen hey .. to me dosent look like a 80k crash to me as i hit a kangaroo at 80 not so long as go .. and our airbags didnt go off ether .. just depends on the impact .. but as far as im aware that it should go off from any speed over 35 kph .. hope this mite help you out cheers buzzie

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FOr more info; se was doing 80 into a parked 4WD with a tow bar

[justin_es]

not being rude as its never nice to have an acco but how in the world did she hit a parked car at 80

ALSO thats the reaosn wy i wanna put my sports steering on

airbags are ****

they dont go off in an acco like that

but one day when im going on a natio run ill probably just scrape the gaurd 1 day and then my airbags will blow up all around me and cus i cant see cus MORE damage

ive never had airbags in any other car before so its not like im gonna notice there gone

my misses airbag(passenger) will still be there so hmmm i think ill book in to get sterring wheel done next week

[BigBum]

If she was really travelling at 80km/h at the time she hit the other vehicle, the airbags should have deffinately gone off... you only need to hit a non moving barrier (in this case, the parked car) from the front of your car at approx 30km/h to deploy the air bags.

[perthcamry]

I would say that does not look like 80KPH, I got put off course into a bull bar of a stationary truck at 60kph in a VW Golf, both airbags went off, but the impact was more than that, It looks as if the sensors were not hit at that speed.

The main thing that will save you at that speed is the seatbelt pre-tensioner. That should have gone off leaving the seatbelt locked in place.

I hope her neck gets better soon :)

[Romp]

I would say that does not look like 80KPH, I got put off course into a bull bar of a stationary truck at 60kph in a VW Golf, both airbags went off, but the impact was more than that, It looks as if the sensors were not hit at that speed.

The main thing that will save you at that speed is the seatbelt pre-tensioner. That should have gone off leaving the seatbelt locked in place. 

I hope her neck gets better soon :)

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yer i doubt she was doing 80kmph - she prob started brakign and she saw 80 but on impact more liek 40-50k

i think the sensors on corolla not as touchy as say a merc.. coz i saw this video of an old lady who kicked the front bumper of a merc and the airbags went off

[SyxXPaC]

Yeh guys your prob right, i think after talkign to her again she woudl have been doing around 40 k but no less.

[Buddha]

Yeh guys your prob right, i think after talkign to her again she woudl have been doing around 40 k but no less.

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Generally speaking, airbags in Australia are set to go off at speeds above which your seatbelt stops protecting. In the USA, they go off at much slower speeds because seatbelt use isn't so high.

I'm no expert, but I would have hoped the airbag would go off in accident that these pics are from.

[Romp]

Yeh guys your prob right, i think after talkign to her again she woudl have been doing around 40 k but no less.

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Generally speaking, airbags in Australia are set to go off at speeds above which your seatbelt stops protecting. In the USA, they go off at much slower speeds because seatbelt use isn't so high.

I'm no expert, but I would have hoped the airbag would go off in accident that these pics are from.

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nah coz in a non fatal accident airbags do more damage than worth

[Buddha]

Yeh guys your prob right, i think after talkign to her again she woudl have been doing around 40 k but no less.

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Generally speaking, airbags in Australia are set to go off at speeds above which your seatbelt stops protecting. In the USA, they go off at much slower speeds because seatbelt use isn't so high.

I'm no expert, but I would have hoped the airbag would go off in accident that these pics are from.

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nah coz in a non fatal accident airbags do more damage than worth

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That's true in a $$$ sense ... my father had an accident in his Mazda6, about half the physical damage compared to the Corolla above, but both airbags went off (including unoccupied passenger seat). Damage came to almost $20g, most of that to replace airbags, dashboard components, drivers seatbelt and the wiring loom.

The only damage to Dad, thankfully, was ringing in his ears from the bang(s).

[perthcamry]

I am a big fan of the airbag as it saved me going through the windscreen (so the ambulance driver told me) it cased no damage to me, no ringing in the ears, and no bruising. I would not buy a car without them :) T

hat was 60 k an hour into a stationary truck bull bar. Not my fault. Unfortunately ABS did not get a chance to be used.

[kelvin33]

:) the jaguar back home with 8 air bags all off cost $32K :)

european cars seems to be more sensitive to speed... sensors are placed in more concise position :)

[Gipper]

not being rude as its never nice to have an acco but how in the world did she hit a parked car at 80

ALSO thats the reaosn wy i wanna put my sports steering on

airbags are ****

they dont go off in an acco like that

but one day when im going on a natio run ill probably just scrape the gaurd 1 day and then my airbags will blow up all around me and cus i cant see cus MORE damage

ive never had airbags in any other car before so its not like im gonna notice there gone

my misses airbag(passenger) will still be there so hmmm i think ill book in to get sterring wheel done next week

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Tell me you are joking!

You dont think you will notice them?

When you have brain damage due to head injuries and you are sucking your meals through a straw, you might wonder why you disconnected a vital piece of safety equipment.

The airbag is designed to stop you hitting the steering wheel with your head which is the major cause of head injuries and brain damage in accidents.

If the womans head didnt hit the steering wheel without the airbag then the sensors did their job and didnt bother deploying.

My brother hit a tree full tilt in his WRX and the airbag saved his life.... Hopefully you will never need an aibag but when you need someone else to help you *****, then you might wonder why you disconnected it for a "nice looking" steering wheel.

As far as the cost when they deploy goes... Insurance's problem, not yours.

Dont mean to preach mate but I hate the thought of someone getting brain damamge due to a silly decision.

[Buddha]

not being rude as its never nice to have an acco but how in the world did she hit a parked car at 80

ALSO thats the reaosn wy i wanna put my sports steering on

airbags are ****

they dont go off in an acco like that

but one day when im going on a natio run ill probably just scrape the gaurd 1 day and then my airbags will blow up all around me and cus i cant see cus MORE damage

ive never had airbags in any other car before so its not like im gonna notice there gone

my misses airbag(passenger) will still be there so hmmm i think ill book in to get sterring wheel done next week

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Tell me you are joking!

You dont think you will notice them?

When you have brain damage due to head injuries and you are sucking your meals through a straw, you might wonder why you disconnected a vital piece of safety equipment.

The airbag is designed to stop you hitting the steering wheel with your head which is the major cause of head injuries and brain damage in accidents.

If the womans head didnt hit the steering wheel without the airbag then the sensors did their job and didnt bother deploying.

My brother hit a tree full tilt in his WRX and the airbag saved his life.... Hopefully you will never need an aibag but when you need someone else to help you *****, then you might wonder why you disconnected it for a "nice looking" steering wheel.

As far as the cost when they deploy goes... Insurance's problem, not yours.

Dont mean to preach mate but I hate the thought of someone getting brain damamge due to a silly decision.

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All good advice ... just one point. Unfortunately, when something becomes "insurance's problem", it soon becomes "wallet's problem" ;)

[justin_es]

thats right cus your premium goes up

also excess fee isnt cheap either

[Blackzze]

Hmmm, Let me See.......

Potential for brain damage 10X....... or Insurance Excess going up.....

Mabye getting to drive a car again......... or being stuck as a vegetable.

Let's have 10 seconds of think music.........................................................................................

I'll take the AirBag :lol

[Cosmo]

So is your friend ok?

[kelvin33]

comeon guys!! as long as no one is hurt... eventually it still boils down to $$$!!! :)

work harder, save more and $$$$ will be back again :)

[kcorro]

above pic is 64 km/h and you would want your airbag to go off

[yowzer]

I could be wrong but isn't the airbag sensors located at the sides front end of the car? I don't have the car manual with me now to confirm.

[Buddha]

Just reading the Drive supplement in this morning's SMH ... they did a story about the 25th anniversary of the first airbags being fitted to Mercedes-Benz cars, and they had a list of trivia items ... one I thought was pretty pertinent to this discussion.

They said that the need for an airbag isn't based on the impact, but the extent of the sudden acceleration or deceleration in the incident.

So its not how hard you hit the item, but the sudden deceleration from x kph to 0 kph that sets them off. In other words, 20 kmh into a concrete wall might set them off, but 30kmh into another car might not, because your deceleration is slower.

Interesting.

[justin_es]

hmm sounds interesting

but i definatly understand what its saying

i guess it is more important isnt it not just the KM;s your doing but wht you hit too

[Blackzze]

Airbag sensors are a steel ball in a cup. This is encapuslated as a single sensor unit.

If the ball pops out (from sudden deceleration/shock) the the circuit is broken and the airbag goes off. The cup is aligned according to sensor placment/orientation.

So hitting a car from behind (AKA parked car) will often cause the parked car to move/skid- even a little movement will cut the deceleration rate significantly.

Airbags are (or should) be designed only to deploy if there is a chance of a life-threatening accident, SyxXPaC friend's accident was not a life threatening accident- even though unfortunatley she got whiplash.

Hitting things like trees will deploy airbags at even moderate speeds of 40kph, because the object is solid, the car has to absorb ALL of the impact energy.

late 80's/early 90's hodas were renowned for airbag deployment at 15kph (car-park speeds!),

Though things are more consistent across brands nowadays.

My20c

:P

[Buddha]

late 80's/early 90's hodas were renowned for airbag deployment at 15kph (car-park speeds!),

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That's because they were designed for the American market, where people rarely used seatbelts.

Hence why airbags are correctly known as SRS - Supplementary Restraint System, they are meant to be the second stage in situations where the "primary" restraint system (i.e. seatbelts) are no longer effective.