Airbags - how big an accident for them to go off???

[Thunder]

The women in my life have taken a different direction in life.
They have either become "Crash Test Dummies" or "Air Bag Testers" - LOL

Both are OK, so it is OK to laugh, as long as they don't read this thread - LOL.

The wife had a VX Berlina Gen 3 wagon.
Airbags in the steering wheel, passenger side dash board, and seats.
I can't remember whether they had windscreen pillar air bags as well.

Anyway, the wife was waiting to turn right on a multi lane road at a set of traffic lights back in August.
3 lanes each way plus a turning lane, but no turning arrow.
There was a car coming in the opposite direction and he also had his right blinker on to turn the oppsite way to my wife.
My wife started to pull out and the other car did not turn.

The accident was basically head on.
The car coming the other way was probably doing 60km/h and my wife was going very slowly.

The impact was right across the front, except the drivers side headlight.
As they came to a stop, his car also hit the side of my wifes car.

Not one air bag went off.










The car was a write off and the damage was extensive.
I would have thought being virtually a head on that the air bags would have gone off.
Sometimes the air bags can cause some damage as well, so not sure whether it was better that they didn't go off.
She ended up with seat belt injuries, and her inbuilt air bags were sore for a while.


Just after Christmas the daughter wrote off her Pulsar - didn't see an Audi !!!
Her air bag went off though.


Fess up !!!
Who else has tested their air bags and survived???


Cheers
Greg

[1BEAST2NV]

fukn hell, that amount of damage and not 1....

thats bullshit, surely one would go off, u would think anyway.??

[macca33]

Am I sensing a little deja vu here Greg? I thought this thread about this collision already happened?

Good to see they are all safe though.

cheers

[Bling Bling]

Wow you would think the air bag would have gone off glad she ok ps double check HER air bags.

[HSV Listy]

My airbags went off without any damage to the panels. A gutter hit under the car when I had to avoid a truck running over me and up on the gutter at 80km/h was the only way out. Both front airbags went off including pretentioners. No damage to the car other than Kframe dint, small crack on front spoiler. THe rest of the costs were to repair the air bags. The avalance thread of mine has all the burn photos and more story.
As for me 2nd degree burns on my leg and wrist. Bruising on my chest from the pretentiones. At 80km/h I had to get off the gutter other wise I would of run into the tree on the divider, cross 2 lanes of trafic all while scared half to death, then deaf in the ears and totally out of breath. Managed it ok but by bugger it hurt. Took about 3 months to heal fully.

[seedyrom]

both are OK

So your wife walked away from it?

Smart air bag. Knows when it's not needed

[planetdavo]

So your wife walked away from it?

Smart air bag. Knows when it's not needed

Seedyrom is a wise man...
To quote you Thunder..."Both are OK".
If your wife is ok, the weren't needed, as the seatbelt/pretensioner did it's job. If it had gone off, it might well have given your wife a broken nose and maybe a couple of broken ribs too.
So, instead of telling us that she's ok but the airbags didn't go off, you'd be telling us that "thank god the airbags went off, she "only" ended up with a broken nose and a couple of broken ribs"...

[feistl]

That looks like the impact was around 30-35kp/h. Normally airbags dont go off unless you exceed 40kp/h. Looks perfectly acceptable, and as you said your wife walked away from it so they wernt needed.

[planetdavo]

It's also not uncommon for imported cars to trigger their airbags at a lower threshold than local cars.
Subjects like Thunder stated come up now and again on here, usually just after someone the person knows (or themselves) was in a accident. You NEVER want an airbag to go off if it's not needed to protect you. They are violent things designed to limit more serious injury or death from hitting steering wheels, windscreens, pillars etc, and nothing like soft fluffy pillows. They can cause more serious injuries than the car would have inflicted if they trigger at too low a threshold.

[WIKED]

I had a very low speed head on when someone came around a corner on the wrong side of the road. The airbag went off and I had the marks to prove it.

Monash University in Melbourne were investigating Air bag deployments in all types of accidents at that time (around 2000) so I wonder if the data is available now.

[Jamolad]

Guy I know set off airbags in a VX or VT cop car, can't remember which model. Somehow ended up with 2/3 of the Holden emblem from the steering wheel centre imprinted on his forehead for about week, but not sure how that happened as I thought that centre bit of the wheel just flipped up to allow the bag out????? I heard about it and called crap until I saw it for myself (imprint that is). Could understand if the bag didn't go off and he headbutted the centre of the wheel, but airbag definitely deployed (80-odd km/h into one of Adelaide's notorious stobie poles on Regency Rd).

They can be violent things when they go off - shits me when I see small kids riding in the front seat of airbag equipped cars, as they can be lethal to little'uns.

[Spoolin]

If the occupants weren't injured, then the bags weren't required. It's only a write off because it's such a low value vehicle, if it was newer and worth more it would have been repaired.

looking at the pics, it wasn't a particularly hard hit, maybe 40ish k's. All Commodores up to VE are pretty soft and don't take much to bend, look at it in comparison to the ED which looks as though it faired better in regards to damage, maybe not for the occupants.

[aussiemuscle308]

She ended up with seat belt injuries, and her inbuilt air bags were sore for a while.

Airbags were originally designed for Americans that wouldn't wear seatbelts. if you are wearing your seatbelt, the airbag is not as critical. (they help, but not essential)
they car with the blinker on, probably had it on since the last time he turned right.

[XUV]

this 5th gear segment is a good indication , it's opel so it's SRS I guess .

[planetdavo]

It appears axemurderer101 would rather have his loved one's face smashed by an airbag than accept reality over the damage they can do to the occupants when not genuinely required...