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Had a collision--no airbag deployment

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by DaveShepherd, Jan 26, 2006.

  1. DaveShepherd

    DaveShepherd Member

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    So I was driving my 2005 red Prius to work Tuesday, at the speed limit in the center lane of a 6-lane (3 in each direction) road. Suddenly a car from the left lane abruptly changed lanes right in front of me.

    The front left corner of my Prius smashed into his front right fender; I must've been doing 35-40 MPH. My car was knocked off into the right-most lane (and I was very lucky not to have been smashed by a driver in that lane, indeed). I think the damage is reparable--I had the car towed to a local shop that my dealer claims knows how to work on Prii.

    I was, of course, wearing my seatbelt. Nonetheless, my head bumped pretty hard into the plastic door pillar of the driver's side door. You know, the plastic case that contains the side curtain airbags? The airbags that didn't pop out?

    Should I have expected more protection from that airbag system? The impact was pretty much directly on the front left corner, just about 45 degrees off-axis from the front and the side.

    I'm all right, I think. Went to the doctor yesterday and had my bump looked at. She said I was "neurologically intact." But I'm rather upset about the lack of airbag deployment.

    And, of course, I'm pretty sick about my little Prius, and I hope they can fix it up.

    Dave
     
    #1 DaveShepherd, Jan 26, 2006
  2. San_Carlos_Jeff

    San_Carlos_Jeff Active Member

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    Seems to me that if you bumped your head pretty hard the airbag should have deployed. Most of the time when I've heard about people claiming their airbags didn't work it turns out that their body parts didn't bump into anything, and the bags were working correctly.

    Bummer about the car, glad to hear you're ok. Cars can be fixed, brains not as easily.
     
    #2 San_Carlos_Jeff, Jan 26, 2006
  3. jeneric

    jeneric New Member

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    I think the airbag is a pretty violent thing. I think I'd rather bump my head "pretty hard" than risk the airbag ripping my head off like you see in all those warning pictures.
     
    #3 jeneric, Jan 26, 2006
  4. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    Airbags are risky when they deploy. The system balances that risk from deployment versus the risk of injury from the crash. It sounds like you are uninjured. You were hurt, but not injured. (See the movie "The Program" for the definition of "hurt" vs "injured.")

    Looks like the computer made the right decision.

    Nate
     
    #4 naterprius, Jan 26, 2006
  5. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    Also, when the airbag deploys it often does thousands of dollars of damage to the interior. It is truly a "last ditch" effort to save the lives of the occupants. Doesn't sound to me like it was needed in this case.
     
    #5 jbarnhart, Jan 26, 2006
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    That kind of collision is clearly not one that would cause airbag deployment...and you should be glad for the reasons given above. The force of an airbag is enough to kill a small adult or a child when it deploys. Bumping your head "pretty hard" in an oblique collision is clear evidence that there was not nearly enough force to cause the air bags to trigger.

    PS. Sorry about the accident, hope your car get's fixed back good as new.
     
    #6 efusco, Jan 26, 2006
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Yeah, sorry to hear about your situation. I had the exact same thing happen to me except in my case it was a semi tractor trailer. No joke! I'm driving along and there there's a 5-foot tire inches from my driver's window literaly pushing me sideways. Killed me instantly. I got better.

    If I'm correct - and I think I'm close - the airbags deploy when the vehicle is hit square (roughly) from the side or the front. Someone posted a long time ago that two of the three sensors in the front must detect an impact to trigger a deployment. I can imagine that there's a similar situation on the side.

    Again, I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Make sure the schmuck in the other car pays for it.
     
    #7 TonyPSchaefer, Jan 26, 2006
  8. DaveShepherd

    DaveShepherd Member

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    Thanks for the responses. Yeah, I figured that the fact that it was an oblique hit, at not a very high speed, probably explained it.

    The other driver's insurance, State Farm, is paying for everything, including the rental Neon I have for the duration of the repair. Right after the wreck, the only vehicle the car rental guys had was a Dodge Ram 4X4 pickup. Yecchhh! Got that changed right away!

    Dave
     
    #8 DaveShepherd, Jan 27, 2006
  9. sms92

    sms92 New Member

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    Evan and others,
    When you say the force of the airbag is enough to "KILL" a small adult do you mean that literally? And would 5'4 and 120 lbs qualify as a small adult? I have been absolutely obsessed with getting side airbags for safety, however, I thought there was something in the car that sensed your weight and adjusted deployment accordingly (maybe that is honda??). Anyway, if anyone has any insight please share, I don't want to pay for side airbags only to end up crushed by them!

    Sorry to hear about your accident Dave.
     
    #9 sms92, Jan 27, 2006
  10. SomervillePrius

    SomervillePrius New Member

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    sms92:

    Evan's coments are a bit strong, air bags are safe and very helpful as long as you wear a seat belt. If you don't then the air bag might actually harm more then help (you being flung forward, and not slowed by the seat belt, meeting an exploding airbag). But using seatbelts the airbag help grown-up. Newer airbags also explode slower (and at different rates as neccesary) to reduce the likleyhood of injury (the priis has this).

    I also think all of this is true esp. for front airbags. I think the side air bags are less dangerous and are more to stop your head or arms from ending up outside the car.

    So, if I where you I would def. go for the airbargs (it was a selling point for me).
     
    #10 SomervillePrius, Jan 27, 2006
  11. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    Yes, airbags can be deadly. However, the Prius has multi-stage airbags. If you move your seat up, and put your seat belt on, it will deploy with less force, lowering the risk.

    Side airbags are less dangerous than front airbags. Passenger airbags tend to be the most dangerous because of their tremendous volume.

    The 2006 Prius has a new "Occupant classification" system to determine if the passenger airbag should be switched off or lowered in force if the occupant is a child or a dog or a pizza or a backpack. (ALWAYS put children in the backseat!)

    The 2004-05 Prius does not have the occupant classification system, but it does have multistage for both driver and passenger.

    Crashes from strange angles DO cause the airbags to go off. However, a little trig is in order, as the decel on the "straight" line of the car is reduced compared to the decel on the angle of the collision. Therefore, the airbag computer must notice that there is a lower amount of deceleration from both the front and side impact sensors, and deploy both front and side airbags.

    Nate

    P.S. Sorry about the crashed car. Glad you were okay.
     
    #11 naterprius, Jan 27, 2006
  12. priusNlondon

    priusNlondon Pingu 2.0

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    regarding the force of airbags and them having deadly force, you also have to factor in physics. if you were to be hit square and hard enough to deploy the airbags the force of the bag would be going in the direction of your movement to slow and prevent you from moving as much as possible.

    I personally have been hit with a steering wheel airbag, twice unfortunatly. neither my fault one drunk driver and one reckless driver. both times i protected myself with my arm and turned my head. i still got burns and bruses from the bag. but the way i had my seat set and my wheel at the distance that it was from my chest i minimized the damage done.

    i've seen some people sit REALLY close to their steering wheels and it makes me crenge when i see it after having an airbag hit me.

    be happy you're alive and well with just a bump on the head. airbags mean serious business.
     
    #12 priusNlondon, Jan 27, 2006
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