I hit a dog on the freeway

It was an accident.
I feel sorry for EVERYONE involved.

 

The bags didn't deploy for that damage? I know not having the bags deploy is a good thing for keeping the car but....seems like that is a lot of damage to have and for the bags to NOT deploy.

I know we have some folks on the forum here with a lot of technical knowledge - is it unusual for this sort of damage to NOT trigger bag deployment? What does trigger deployment? Enquiring mind......

 

Here is an explanation of when an airbag should deploy:

What You Need to Know About Air Bags, DOT HS 809 575

Basically, it has to do with deceleration.

Because air bag sensors measure deceleration, vehicle speed and damage are not good indicators of whether or not an air bag should have deployed.

 

Hmmm...so I read the article. I guess I still don't fully know why they didn't deploy in this instance - because the car didn't slow down enough (or fast enough) - decelerate - upon contact with the deer? (is that because the driver didn't hit their brakes or the deer just did a quick "hit and run") I'm just curious - this appears to be quite a bit of damage and I guess ultimately I'm wondering if it takes having a mack truck smash through the car for the bags to deploy or what ;-) (like....were the sensors working the way they SHOULD in that accident? or not.....??)

 

The tow truck driver explained that because she had no time to hit the brakes before impact, the bags did not deploy - the deer was being hunted and jumped from trees alongside the road right into traffic. He also said that she might not be standing there had they deployed because the bags can be hard of soft tissue like a human face and arms. As it was, she walked away with a sore elbow and the pain of missing her new car. Now her commute will cost over $200 per month in fuel until her C is returned. It only burns about $50 a month and averages around 60 mpg.

 

Absolutely not true! So this means if you fall asleep on the road and hit an immovable object that the airbags won't deploy because you didn't hit the brakes? I DON"T THINK SO!

She didn't decelerate at a fast enough rate to deploy the airbags.

Airbags must inflate very rapidly to be effective, and therefore come out of the steering wheel hub or instrument panel with considerable force, generally at a speed over 100 mph. Because of this initial force, contact with a deploying air bag may cause injury. These air bag contact injuries, when they occur, are typically very minor abrasions or burns.

There can be serious injuries, but these are the rare exception. How many people have you ever heard of that were killed by an airbag deployment compared to how many people have you heard of that have had an airbag deploy?

I would be more worried about the deer coming over the top of the hood and through the windshield!

 

Ack, I hate seeing these damaged c's! Makes my heart hurt for the owners! So far, though, it seems they've been keeping the occupants safe.

 

To jsfabb (cause I don't even want to start figuring out how much to quote back ;-) ..... I think you're right, but that's just my opinion it just being that the deer-smacked car didn't decelerate enough. Boy, remember the "old days" when you could sit on a car's hood? (ok, maybe half of you here remember that and half don't lol). Since the deer kept on going I guess this was some sort of heavy duty side swipe but dang, that hood crumpled like it was made from foil. I guess that's the point these days - it just seems like so much damage.

 

Unfortunately I am old enough to remember those days when you could sit on a cars hood.

I'm sure if they were driving an old tank of a car, there would have been very minor damage ... to the car not the deer!

 

Not sure about the c but the hood and rear hatch are probably made from Aluminum like the hoods and hatches on other members of the Prius family.


Posted from my iPhone via the Tapatalk app.

 

We see deer hit by all kinds of vehicles - even full sized trucks are sometimes demolished. The C's crumple zones absorbed most of the impact as designed. She struck this large buck head-on and walked away as did the deer. We and her insurance agent are pretty happy with the outcome all things considered and can't wait to get the C back on the road again.

 

The key point in the original posting was that the driver "was virtually unscathed". That was a case of the crash protection working as designed. I've heard many stories, and seen postings, where people have been in an accident and then complain that the air bags didn't deploy. In almost all those cases if you ask the driver a follow up question like "Where did you hit your head on the steering wheel/dash/side or side of the car since the air bag didn't go off?" They will say, "Oh I didn't hit my head anywhere". That's what it looks like happened here. There was no need for the airbag. Long winded I know...

 

I just realized you're in Oregon! When I was a kid my mom would drive all us kids from Portland to Fresno, CA for a summer visit with our grandparents. Traveling at dawn down I-5 one year (around Albany) a deer bounded across the road and my poor mom hit it (no place else to go). It was BAD (and we're talking one of those tank Oldsmobile cars!) - bad for the deer, tough on the car. Now THAT sort of impact would have caused the airbags on a C to deploy for sure. [We managed to finish the drive - and grandpa was a service manager so we had some super duper priority treatment at the body shop to get it fixed for the drive back a week later.] I STILL am hyper-cautious driving that section of I-5 early and late in the day!

 

I remember in history class learning that the Lewis and Clark Expedition nearly ended when they confronted deer late in the day on I-5. Just kidding <smirk>. I moved to the coast a decade ago in part to avoid traffic but alas, it has followed me here. Here's wishing you roadway journeys safe from all kinds of animals ... even those that drive.

 

Thanks for the update. Maybe gives us a time-frame for parts on our repair too. Best of luck!

 

Hope this will give you more clarity. The deceleration mentioned above, is actually "acceleration" (or a g-force in other words) for the different type of the sensors, and once the preset "acceleration/overload" threshold is broken the airbag control system is activated.
The design is conceptually simple; a central "Airbag control unit" (ACU) (a specific type ofECU) monitors a number of related sensors within the vehicle, including accelerometers, impact sensors, side (door) pressure sensors, wheel speed sensors,gyroscopes,brake pressure sensors, and seat occupancy sensors. When the required 'threshold' has been reached or exceeded, the airbag control unit will trigger the ignition of a gas generator propellant to rapidly inflate a fabric bag. The airbag's volume and the size of the vents in the bag are tailored to each vehicle type, to spread out the deceleration of (and thus force experienced by) the occupant over time and over the occupant's body, compared to a seat belt alone.
The signals from the various sensors are fed into the Airbag control unit, which determines from them the angle of impact, the severity, or force of the crash, along with other variables. Depending on the result of these calculations, the ACU may also deploy various additional restraint devices, such as a seat belt pre-tensioners, and/or airbags (including frontal bags for driver and front passenger, along with seat-mounted side bags, and "curtain" airbags which cover the side glass). Each restraint device is typically activated with one or more pyrotechnicdevices, commonly called an initiator or electric match. The electric match, which consists of an electrical conductor wrapped in a combustible material, activates with a current pulse between 1 to 3 amperes in less than 2 milliseconds. When the conductor becomes hot enough, it ignites the combustible material, which initiates the gas generator. In a seat belt pre-tensioner, this hot gas is used to drive a piston that pulls the slack out of the seat belt. In an airbag, the initiator is used to ignite solid propellant inside the airbag inflator. The burning propellant generates inert gas which rapidly inflates the airbag in approximately 20 to 30 milliseconds. An airbag must inflate quickly in order to be fully inflated by the time the forward-traveling occupant reaches its outer surface. Typically, the decision to deploy an airbag in a frontal crash is made within 15 to 30 milliseconds after the onset of the crash, and both the driver and passenger airbags are fully inflated within approximately 60-80 milliseconds after the first moment of vehicle contact. Since more distance typically exists between the passenger and the instrument panel, the passenger airbag is larger and requires more gas to fill it.

 

Mik1, thanks. Great info. I'm continue to be amazed by the technological sophistication of cars today. And also a wee bit nervous since I know how often my laptop gets quirky ;-)

 

You are welcome. Don't worry about the glitches in car's electronic system - it is very reliable. The reason why automobiles computerized systems are more expensive compared to desktop computers is because they go through more sophisticated testing, since car's system has no rights to show you a "blue screen" saying that the system had experienced "unknown error" and it will shut down, compared to some operation systems which can do it quite often.

 

LOL! Yes, I do NOT need the blue screen of death in the car ;-) Makes me think of all the old jokes about "if Microsoft built cars" (snopes.com: General Motors Replies to Bill Gates). I really didn't look at ANY other hybrids because I do trust Toyota's experience on that front. I guess we're all "early adopters" on getting a C, but Prii have been around long enough for me to balance my concerns over tech.