Passenger side airbag - Read this!!!!!!!! | FerrariChat

Passenger side airbag - Read this!!!!!!!!

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by ferrari doctor, Feb 23, 2006.

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  1. ferrari doctor

    Aug 19, 2004
    24
    Sorry but being an automotive engineer, this type of information is so far from reality that it becomes fodder for the press and really pisses me off.
    Passenger side airbags DO NOT deploy and "PREVENT" the occupant from going foward in a collision!!!!
    In aprox. 6/100ths of a second the bag deploys and it's there to cushion the body's foward movement by "ALREADY BEING DEPLOYED" and deflating as the body makes contact with the airbag. (the same as a stunt person using a cushion bag when falling from a building)
    Try to understand this concept; "THE AIRBAG DOES NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH THE BODY, THE BODY MAKES CONTACT WITH THE AIRBAG." The body actually helps the airbag deflate which is how the "SLOWING DOWN EFFECT IS SLOWED DOWN EVEN FURTHER"..
    There is absolutely no reason in any street car to have the passenger side air bag shutt off, PERIOD.....(except on the track to prevent unneeded expense because of unnecessary deployment, due to no one in the passenger seat)
    If anyone is "That concerned about their children that the airbag should be shuttoff, they shouldn't be driving their child in that car....."
    All car manufacturers say that if the passengers side seat is all the way back, the airbag will not deploy that far. (The airbag only comes out about 12 to 18 inches on average, (find out from your individual manufacturer).
    With the seat all the way back, the bag won't even come close to the occupant.
    Don't listen to the "sensationalism" of the press, find out the real facts from each company.........
     
  2. Boxer12

    Boxer12 Formula 3

    Jun 1, 2003
    1,672
    Ok, so, the airbag and the body don't make contact? Or is it...One's going toward the rear, and the other toward the front, simultaneously, yet one contacts the other as the other awaits contact but doens't contact the forward progressing body....I'm confused. ;(
     
  3. Michael Everson

    Michael Everson Karting

    Nov 5, 2005
    224
    Norton, MA USA Earth
    Full Name:
    Michael Everson
    I was always under the impression that air bags were installed to help protect the people that are too stupid to wear there seatbelts.
     
  4. ferrari doctor

    Aug 19, 2004
    24
    Michael,
    You are so right. Air bags were developed because people are stupid.......
    By the way, was my thread that confusing???????
     
  5. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,958
    MD and NE
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    Belts and bags are designed to work in conjuction with one another...
     
  6. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,958
    MD and NE
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    I have freinds that have kids, but only have pick up trucks with pass. side cutoff switch. It is easy to say --the kid shouldn't be in the front seat, but reality of peoples vehicle choices and kid situations says different...Hence one reason cutoff switches were installed in the first place---they were not installed to track your car...
     
  7. Boxer12

    Boxer12 Formula 3

    Jun 1, 2003
    1,672
    My belief is that my track car, with 6 pt harness, has absolutely no reason to have airbags. It is just a waste of money and an additional hazard if I happen to tap somebody a little too hard.

    ferrari-doc...It wasn't all that confusing, just a distinction without a difference? what I really don't understand is, why is it so important to read? save that kind of alarming title for something like....baby born with prancing horse shaped birthmark! ;)
     
  8. ferrari doctor

    Aug 19, 2004
    24
    Point well taken, I owe you one......
     
  9. ferrari doctor

    Aug 19, 2004
    24
    285Ferrari,
    Airbag cuttoff switches in pickups are for plowing, not for kids.....
    Remember that the airbags are deployed based on the rate of deacceleration, not impact (like the older systems were).
     
  10. Mbutner

    Mbutner Formula 3

    Aug 11, 2005
    1,689
    Bay Area / Washington DC
    Full Name:
    Quick Draw
    I dont understand the veheminant idea that having a safety switch is a bad thing... In a two passenger car you should have it, period. I believe the biggest issue in regard to the kids is the rear facing child safety seat which has no bearing on the recline of the seat. The child will be decapitated if the airbag deploys. I would be carefull giving such reckless advice on a public forum. While your points about impacting the bag etc. are well informed and true, saying that the switch is not neccisary or the bag itself is not neccissary is a bit far fetched 'doc.
     
  11. Kram

    Kram Formula Junior

    Jul 3, 2004
    867
    Park bench, Canada
    Full Name:
    Mark
    Let’s just think this through for a minute. As an automotive engineer I’m sure you would agree that in most accidents the driver hits the brake before the impact.

    Right?

    Well, let’s take it from there:

    A child, being smaller, is less lightly to fit perfectly into a front seat than an adult. He/she is more likely to slip under the shoulder strap during the braking period and be in line to catch the inflating airbag as it deploys. The impact of the airbag (the older ones came out at about 200 m.p.h.) into the child, now folded in two and right by the dash, can snap a neck and send a small head into the back seat/window. A light child is also more likely to fool the inertia reel safety belt mechanism (used in some cars) and, even with the shoulder strap in place, end up within 12 or 18 inches of the airbag is it springs out of the dash.

    Right?

    In other words, the safety systems to which you are referring have been largely designed for the benefit of adult humans, not dolphins, Tang pottery or children. Thus the conditions under which they are often deployed can render them deadly to the younger members of the population. As for pushing the seat all the way back, well, often the only reason you have a kid in the front is because the back seats are already full and there is no other place! You can't put the seat all the way back - the rear passengers have legs!

    I have had air bag switches installed into a couple of cars - because I trust my own judgement.
     

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