Daughter Survived major accident in her Prius

I believe the airbags deploy based on direction of impact and occupant sensors. The side impact airbags shouldn't deploy for a front/rear impact. The passenger airbags would only deploy if the car knew there was a passenger present due to the weight sensor in seat and/or seatbelt status.

And very glad to hear she walked away. I'm sure she'll be feeling it later, but any walk away is a good day.

 

Coming from a series of 20th Century cars, I just can't describe the Prius as 'small'. It is significantly larger and heavier than all but one of my household's prior cars. Only our Subaru Legacy Wagon was heavier -- just barely, about 100 pounds more. The Prius is actually taller than that Subaru.

Most modern cars should be very similarly safe as that Prius. The entire field is far safer than a couple decades ago, as safety design has been progressing rapidly.

No malfunction, this is expected. Airbag deployment is both expensive and inherently hazardous to the occupants, so is held back to only when its benefits should exceed the hazards. In the middle sandwich position of a rear-ender chain reaction, this will often mean that even the steering wheel bag doesn't fire. That fact that hers did, and the steering wheel was partially collapsed from her striking it, suggests that even the secondary impact into the Tahoe was quite strong.

 

I think so. I'll echo what previous commenters noted.

With an impact from the rear, the side airbags don't need to deploy. The passenger airbag did not deploy because there is a sensor in the seat that detects that there is no passenger. So, the only occupant of the vehicle (the driver) needed only the front airbag for protection, and that is the bag that deployed.

The other vehicle may have been swerving at the time, which would translate some of the collision impact into side forces that triggered more airbags on that vehicle. Additionally, that vehicle was traveling at high speed and likely had very rapid deceleration from the front, which may fire all the front airbags.

 

And all this is in Prime forum why, exactly?

 

There is an airbag recall in certain years as well.

 

That would be your answer. Bruises on the knee, but nothing serious, indicates that said bag was not necessary. That bag was added for different situations that commonly lead to serious injury.

 

Glad all is as good as can be expected.

As stated yes the airbags deployed as designed. Airbags are NOT fluffy pillows of clouds that protect you. They are violent chemical explosions designed to be the lesser of evil between death/mutilation and just being bruised and some broken bones. Since the knees escaped injury and are just bruised, no airbag needed. You want the minimal amount of airbags. Lots of other cars just deploy everything all the time and this can be detrimental but it makes people feel warm and fuzzy because all the pillows exploded. Toyota does it properly.

As to your Prius surviving the impact, that's exactly what it's designed to do. When you see an accident where one car just looks completely destroyed from the outside basically missing a front and a back that's exactly what's supposed to happen. The cars but usually trucks and SUVs that look like they "barely had a scratch" are not safer to be in. They were subjected to the same forces but the vehicle didn't protect the bag of flesh inside by crumpling. You need to dissipate lots of force in a very small time period and very small linear distance. That means accordion style compression of everything possible to prevent the cabin and interior from shrinking very much. Did the doors still open/close?

 

You generally want as little airbag action as is needed.

When more than one goes off, the inflation rate tends to drop a little because it's competing with the other airbags while cabin air gets pushed out (through the trunk vent, open or broken window etc).

Also they're expensive to replace, so the insurance industry has pushed automakers to install occupancy sensors in the hopes that repair claims can be lowered. Obviously that doesn't matter when the car is totaled, but they've come up with a pretty smart system that can decide which ones to fire in a split second, long before you can figure out rebuildable status.

 

We see that a lot. Prius has saved so many people that they just go get another Prius. And there is no problem with that.

Unfortunately I also see people that get hit in their car and then say they want to replace it with a large SUV or truck because it's safer. Well, it's not. And usually since they are built on truck frames and not subject to passenger vehicle safety requirements they are much less safe than a smaller vehicle. There was a Top Gear (UK with Clarkson) from a long time ago where he and the Hamster looked at Euro NCAP vehicles 5 star, 4 star, and 3 star. They had a big Land Rover, the kind that people think are safe. It was 3 star rated and you'd have a mouth full of steering wheel, shattered kneecaps, shattered ankles, and maybe cut in half at the chest while the entire passenger cabin had crumpled and deformed by a good 8-10 inches opposite of the door.

Good luck on finding the next Prius!

 

That's the front and rear of the car absorbing energy as designed. Very sophisticated design features on newer cars. The engines and transmissions break loose and go out the bottom, the front and rear of the car are sacrificial crush zones. The doors are nicely reinforced, and the B pillar is very sturdy to keep the body shell as intact as possible. Add to that pre-tensioning seatbelts and an array of airbags, head rests, breakaway steering wheel/columns, etc.

 

Corginator, I'm glad your daughter could walk away. The crash design and safety systems of the car did their job. I've known two people who moved up to SUVs after severe Prius crashes, but I agree with 2k1Toaster. Bigger vehicles don't guarantee higher safety.

In 2009, I was in a sandwich wreck with a '97 Camry that totaled it, but I walked away with only a sore neck. It happened so fast, I didn't feel the second impact or see the airbag deploy. I'm not the litigious type, but tell your daughter not to settle with the insurance companies until she's certain she has no injuries. Get checked out by a doctor, who may order imaging tests.

 

We are a Toyota family. 3 Yaris's and my Prius. Low maintenance, easy to work on, fun to drive, cool sound systems, easy to mod out, cool to look at, great mpg..........................

 

That's a bit of a stretch for both the Yaris and the Prius. I like the way my Prime drives, but it's no looker.

 

Opinions, opinions.........LoL

 

While i was reading in to inverter recall, this article talked about side airbags and knee airbags. This might be the answer but like others said since it was front and rear crash the side airbags dont deploy.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/1532120002