Air Bags and possible Dangers Question

[Petersubaru]

Is there a danger of injury or worse from sitting too close to the steering wheel when the bag goes off...I have asked a lot of people, some with long arms and others with very short arms and nobody seems to have a clear answer on what is a safe distance ...some people drive around around looking like they are ready to kiss the wheel

[Manarius]

Is there a danger of injury or worse from sitting too close to the steering wheel when the bag goes off...I have asked a lot of people, some with long arms and others with very short arms and nobody seems to have a clear answer on what is a safe distance ...some people drive around around looking like they are ready to kiss the wheel

Short answer: Yes. There should be a warning label in the car stating the correct distance from the wheel someone should sit so that they are not injured.

[svxpert]

http://www.drivesubaru.com/Win06_WhatsInside.htm

 

 

lower down there is do's and don't for airbags.

[86ruguy]

The airbag deploys at an estimated velocity of 300 MPH and if you are sitting within the first 12 inches of that deployment it can snap your neck like a twig.

My friend and I deployed one on purpose with a manican(sp) sitting 12 inches from it and it crushed the chest, broke the right shoulder and decapitated the thing.

:eek:

BTW....you can also set them off outside the car and send them about 200 feet in the air. Done that too.

[nipper]

If your short, you need to have the bags deactivated. Yes they can kill someone if your too close to them when they go off. The way they work is that you are accelerating towards the steering wheel, and the bags are accelerating towards you. Your supposed to meet someplace in the middle of that distance.

 

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070516/air-bag-injury-risk-linked-to-height

 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.9bf1623441fb228891e67a1090008a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_viewID=detail_view&itemID=90a69134db1bff00VgnVCM1000002c567798RCRD&viewType=standard&detailViewURL=/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.9bf1623441fb228891e67a1090008a0c/;jsessionid=8mJkGpcC9h20y2mQWY2dD2RmVYGGTdNlG0QmJbLg1lJsGl2hpjTH!447926930!-61314767?javax.portlet.tpst=f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_ws_MX#13

 

 

Its the same reaason children under 13? shouldnt sit in the front seat

 

From the NHTSA website

14. At what height and weight is an individual considered at risk when driving an air bag equipped vehicle? There is no precise height and weight at which an individual is considered to be at risk. The primary determinant as to whether an individual will be injured by a deploying air bag is the distance from which the individual is seated from the air bag.

15. What is considered a safe distance to sit from the steering wheel in an air bag equipped vehicle? All drivers need to be properly belted and sit as far from the air bag as possible to allow the air bag to deploy. Short drivers should move the driver's seat rearward to allow space between the driver's chest and the steering wheel, and the seat back should be tilted back slightly. There is no precise distance known that will guarantee that no injuries will occur because all air bags are unique and deploy with different forces. However, the driver should refrain from leaning forward and, to the extent possible, the driver should hold the steering wheel from the side so that his/her arms aren't between the driver and the air bag.

 

 

nipper

[edrach]

I always use my seatbelts and frankly I've never liked air bags. I've worn glasses all my life and have no desire to have the lenses pushed into my eyeballs.

 

During the initial testing for airbags many years ago some German companies used cadavers to see how they would affect a person. They found the ear drums popped on the cadavers if the windows were fully closed.

 

My personal opinion, once the air bags deploy it adds about $2000 to the cost of the repair which normally sends the bill to the point where the insurance company can "total" the car. Cynic that I am, that was a primary reason for mandating them in the first place.

[NOMAD327]

I've been in an air bag deployment wreck and can tell you they can only be experience in the form of a memory. They are up and back down so fast, It seems instantaneous, actually everything at that moment was happening in very slow motion, and they still were up and down in an instant. I sit back pretty far and was belted, and they did not even seem to touch me. You will stink of the propellent and be covered in white dust for the whole day afterwards. Airbags going off seem to almost always end up in the car being totaled, because of the high cost, especially for the passenger side one. ($4000 in my case) I understand it's very bad for people who drive reaching across the wheel, to have it go off with their arm in the way.

[OB99W]

[...]I have asked a lot of people, some with long arms and others with very short arms and nobody seems to have a clear answer on what is a safe distance[...]

For many short people, it's leg length that necessitates having the seat too close. Of course, that could be addressed by adjustable gas and brake pedal positioning, as found on some cars. If this is an important issue for anyone, and you aren't concerned about "cosmetic" aspects of a work-around, consider something like: http://www.planetmobility.com/store/driving-aids/creative-controls/pedal-extenders/index.html

[nipper]

For many short people, it's leg length that necessitates having the seat too close. Of course, that could be addressed by adjustable gas and brake pedal positioning, as found on some cars. If this is an important issue for anyone, and you aren't concerned about "cosmetic" aspects of a work-around, consider something like: http://www.planetmobility.com/store/driving-aids/creative-controls/pedal-extenders/index.html

 

Subaru also have excellant devices for people with physical issues.

http://www.cars101.com/subaru_for_disabled.html

 

nipper

[elborak]

I've been in an air bag deployment wreck and can tell you they can only be experience in the form of a memory. They are up and back down so fast, It seems instantaneous, actually everything at that moment was happening in very slow motion, and they still were up and down in an instant.

Let me second that. In my accident, it happened so fast that I didn't initially realize that it had deployed. I was knocked off the road over a (luckily short) embankment and came to rest in about a second. After taking a couple of seconds to realize that I was unhurt, my next reaction was "what's that awful smell?" It was then I looked down to see the bag hanging from the steering wheel.

 

No shocking impact, no glasses shattered into my face, just a stench. Now if I hadn't been wearing my belt and had hit the bag at full force, that may well have been a different story.

 

I'm moderately tall (about 6ft) and sit at a fairly average distance from the wheel. It's close enough that my 5'6" wife can drive without automatically having to adjust the seat.

[Bluestone]

Several years ago I hit a car that suddenly made a left turn right in front of me. I was going about 25mph at the time of impact and was driving a 2000 Subie, the identical car to my current Sube.

Since I was wearing my seat/chest belt, the airbag was superfluous at that low speed. But the airbag did deploy resulting in extreme bruising to the interior wall of my chest, which was extremely painful for a couple of weeks; I couldn't take a reasonably good breath or sit up from a lying position without extreme pain. Felt like a had cracked some ribs but xrays didn't show any.

Airbags are helpful if one is not wearing a seat belt. Or possibly in a high speed imact even when one is wearing a seat belt.

But, I for one, would rather do without them. Airbags should be optionally installed, not mandatorily.

They add thousands of $$$ to the cost of the car, and are useful only in a limited range of circumstances.

I've been seriously thinking of having mine disconnected.

[nipper]

Several years ago I hit a car that suddenly made a left turn right in front of me. I was going about 25mph at the time of impact and was driving a 2000 Subie, the identical car to my current Sube.

Since I was wearing my seat/chest belt, the airbag was superfluous at that low speed. But the airbag did deploy resulting in extreme bruising to the interior wall of my chest, which was extremely painful for a couple of weeks; I couldn't take a reasonably good breath or sit up from a lying position without extreme pain. Felt like a had cracked some ribs but xrays didn't show any.

Airbags are helpful if one is not wearing a seat belt. Or possibly in a high speed imact even when one is wearing a seat belt.

But, I for one, would rather do without them. Airbags should be optionally installed, not mandatorily.

They add thousands of $$$ to the cost of the car, and are useful only in a limited range of circumstances.

I've been seriously thinking of having mine disconnected.

 

See now I was in a moderate speed impact, where a car made a left trun on front of me (25-30 mph). The car did not have airbags, just the standard seatbelts. I had the same injury.

 

I think your blaming an injury you would have had anyway on the airbag.

 

nipper

[edrach]

Several years ago I hit a car that suddenly made a left turn right in front of me. I was going about 25mph at the time of impact and was driving a 2000 Subie, the identical car to my current Sube.

Since I was wearing my seat/chest belt, the airbag was superfluous at that low speed. But the airbag did deploy resulting in extreme bruising to the interior wall of my chest, which was extremely painful for a couple of weeks; I couldn't take a reasonably good breath or sit up from a lying position without extreme pain. Felt like a had cracked some ribs but xrays didn't show any.

Airbags are helpful if one is not wearing a seat belt. Or possibly in a high speed imact even when one is wearing a seat belt.

But, I for one, would rather do without them. Airbags should be optionally installed, not mandatorily.

They add thousands of $$$ to the cost of the car, and are useful only in a limited range of circumstances.

I've been seriously thinking of having mine disconnected.

My sentiments exactly.

[Seahag1978]

I'm fairly tall with a 31" inseam and sit as far back as possible from airbags and insist they get turned off in our truck as a passenger. I wear my seatbelt very snug. I dislike ABS brakes well, HATE them actually and refuse to drive them in sloppy weather.

 

I can't understand why the government is trying to make cars "idiot-proof", completely taking away the driver's obligation to operate the vehicle with skill and judgment. Have Americans become that fat, dumb and lazy? Seems so.

 

I'll drive my old gen BRAT make MY own decision when to deploy 4WD and when skid and recover. Geeeesh.

 

What about this car that parks itself??? Ugh!

[Bluestone]

See now I was in a moderate speed impact, where a car made a left trun on front of me (25-30 mph). The car did not have airbags, just the standard seatbelts. I had the same injury.

 

I think your blaming an injury you would have had anyway on the airbag.

 

nipper

 

 

Well, could be, but I kinda doubt it in my case. First, my upper torso was not jolted forward by the crash's impact; the airbag was deployed instantaneously upon impact and prevented that. Remember that the deployed airbag meets one's body with such speed that it occurs just before the force of crash impact meets one's body, certainly so at lower speed collisions.

Most late model cars, especially those designed since airbags became mandatory, are structurally designed to absorb maximum head-on impact in lower speed collisions before those forces reach the passenger compartment. Many structurally well engineered cars of the past 8 or 9 years can easily handle a lower speed head on collision without resulting in any physical trauma whatsoever to the car's occupants, provided seatbelts are worn. And Sube's since the 2000 models are one of the more crashworthy cars.

My attending doctor told me that the force of an airbag's impact on one's body can and has caused broken ribs, even with the later modified airbags. A triggered airbag's velocity of about 300mph is more than enough to cause some trauma when meeting one's upper body, even though it deflates instantly afterward.

I'd say that the impact of a deployed airbag against one's chest is roughly equivalent to a good jab to one's chest by a heavyweight boxer.

[sgregory]

Just my two cents, I am a firefighter/paramedic and I have seen my fair share of car accidents with air bags over the years, I have never seen anyone seriously injured by airbag deployment. I have seen a number of children who should never have been in the front seat end up with neck pain in low speed accidents from air bags, but again no serious injuries. Overall I think front impact airbags do help more than they harm.

[elborak]

See now I was in a moderate speed impact, where a car made a left trun on front of me (25-30 mph). The car did not have airbags, just the standard seatbelts. I had the same injury.

 

I think your blaming an injury you would have had anyway on the airbag.

I would tend to agree.

 

In another major accident (I've sadly totalled three cars, all from cars coming into my lane), I was driving a pre-airbag Honda Accord about 30mph through road construction when a drunk driver, confused by the cones and changing lanes, pulled directly into my lane. Car was totalled. I was unhurt except for bruised ribs that hurt like crazy for about 2-3 weeks. From the shoulder belt.

 

I viewed it as a good trade-off: my face and teeth for a few weeks for discomfort.

[jon38iowa]

I would tend to agree.

 

In another major accident (I've sadly totalled three cars, all from cars coming into my lane), I was driving a pre-airbag Honda Accord about 30mph through road construction when a drunk driver, confused by the cones and changing lanes, pulled directly into my lane. Car was totalled. I was unhurt except for bruised ribs that hurt like crazy for about 2-3 weeks. From the shoulder belt.

 

I viewed it as a good trade-off: my face and teeth for a few weeks for discomfort.

 

A car pulled right out in front of me at 35mph (i was driving a '90s club wagon{van}). The T-bird was totaled, my van reparable. No one injured(thank god for the seat belt), but I was pretty sore for a few weeks.

 

I don't like air bags, and the van mentioned didn't have them. I know they probably are well worth it, but I have this never ending worry as my hands are on the wheel, that the thing is going to explode in my face! If I could I would turn it off. Not rational I know, but just my two cents.

[Virrdog]

I dislike ABS brakes well, HATE them actually and refuse to drive them in sloppy weather.

 

I'll drive my old gen BRAT make MY own decision when to deploy 4WD and when skid and recover. Geeeesh.

I take it you have never driven a car with excellent ABS brakes. I'm not talking about 2 channel cheaper type units that lock up an axle at a time.

 

I wouldn't give up my ABS in the Sport Sedan for anything. It does what it is supposed to do... well.

[WoodsWagon]

My service manager wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for airbags. He fell asleep at the wheel in his 05 honda accord, woke up in the center median, crossed back across the two lanes, and went into the trees at an estimated 85mph. He remembered looking to his left and watching a tree coming straight at him, then in was all white and he thought it was over for him... but then he noticed it felt kinda squishy. He hit 3 trees hard, and slid into a couple more, demolished the car, but him and his wife walked away with the only injury being a cut to his wife's head where she was leaning against the seatbelt anchor. All the airbags went off, seat bags, dash bags, side curtain bags, and without them his head woulda popped like a pumpkin on the first hit.

 

If you feel they're a danger, pull the fuses for the system. It's simple. But don't badmouth them. Remember how long it took for seatbelts and padded dashboards to be accepted.

[wondercow2]

On this note, what does the 10-year dealer SRS service involve? Just a check of the SRS computer stuff, or an actual physical inspection? (and how much do they charge??)