I was travelling around 50 mph today when a truck came down a ramp to merge onto the road I was on. He hit ice and spun out right in front of me. Without having any time to react I smashed into the side of his Ranger. My front end on the ground, my hood folded in half now higher than the roof, and pieces of my front end everwhere! I am guessing $15,000 - $20,000 damage. I went to the doctor with server whiplash, and a damaged bleeding kidney. I have a 2003 sedan, premium with areo 5000 miles. Can anyone tell me why no air bags would have deployed??
Maybe they do more damage than not but I will post my pics when I go to the compound, and you tell me if they should have deployed??

 

Air bags are all about force of impact and not necessarily forward speed. For example, if you are going 60 and hit something that's going 50, the difference is only 10 mph and probably does not merit air bag deployment. The car has accelerometers in front and in back, and if the difference between their readings is high enough, the airbags go off.

Do you suspect your injuries would have been reduced given an airbag? Were you wearing your seatbelt?

2003.5 6MT Sedan. Carribean Blue / Graphite

 

I can't see why they wouldn't have-- the intertial sensor surely should've been triggered. Sirbags definitely don't do more bad than good, though... unless you're a midget or sit way too close to the wheel. Let's count how many people have been saved by airbags vs. those who've been hurt by them... Of course, when they don't deploy, they don't do much good[img]/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint

 

Yes I appreciate your force analegy. The thing was this guy was sideways and did not have much forward motion. I can not open my front doors, the front of my fenders were beside my car ripped off, and it appears my whole front end was hit back a foot. How much of a hit do you need.
Would have air bags helped? Not likely as I did have on my seatbelt, and my doctor figures that is what damaged my kindneys, the whip lash is from the forward motion abuptly ending? Thanks for the replies!!

 

It's possible that your bumper went under the truck and the car wasn't hit low enough to activate the airbags. All I can think of at the moment.

 

Thanks but no I hit it at the front side fender at the tire. Did not go under. I will try & post pics ASAP & then I can get your comments with a better understanding? Thanks

 

After your description, it does sound like they should have gone off. You survived with relatively minor injuries given the seriousness of the accident, so the other safety measures clearly did their job. I hope that you will heal up quickly (I've had whiplash, this one can last a few weeks).

I remember reading an NHTSA report about airbag statistics, and it turns out that they actually do more harm than good. The way they arrived at the statistic was by comparing the number of accidents where the driver would have likely survived given airbags vs the number of drivers who would have survived if the airbags didn't deploy. It's linked to on www.motorists.com somewhere. It also turned out that airbags also caused a LOT of serious injuries even when there was no fatality. For example, if you turn your steering wheel arm-over-arm, as most of us driving from more than a few years have, and the airbag goes off, your forearms get shattered and mangle your face. If you wear glasses, the airbag hitting them breaks the lenses from the frames and drives them into your eye-sockets, sometimes causing loss of eyes. Basically, if you are a 170 lb male who is about 5' 10", the airbag is tuned for you, otherwise, it won't work as well. The National Motorists Association is lobbying to mandate airbag cutoff switches for this reason.

2003.5 6MT Sedan. Carribean Blue / Graphite

 

eek... I stay away from Motorists.com... they're an interesting lobbying group that plays on emotion more than fact. I believe one of their articles on daytime running lights said they confused and blinded other drivers, etc. and caused more accidents. They're lobbying to make seatbelts optional, raise the BAC limit, get rid of red light cams, and deregulate the safety measures in cars. Something tells me they're just a group that's out to get the gov't out of their passanger seat, period.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint

 

"For example, if you turn your steering wheel arm-over-arm"

I just took a driving class and they taught us to set our hands at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock vice the 2 & 10 they used to teach in the past. Reasoning was to prevent injuries from airbag deployment.

It was kinda wierd at first, but once I got used to it, I found I actually had more control in most turns because you push the low hand up and over, so you have about 180 degrees of motion vice the 100-120 degrees in the 2-10 o'clock method. (English teacher would call that one heck of a run-on sentence!!!)



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