Speed thrills but kills… perhaps we don’t really care about the last word. For the majority of us, speed only thrills, while completely neglecting the consequences which are deadly. Each day you’ll come across several posts on social media where cars are involved in major accidents due to overspeeding and negligence, yet people don’t learn.
Will airbags save you in such an accident?
The majority of the young blood believe that they are always safe if their vehicle is equipped with ABS and airbags which is not at all true. Just because a vehicle has airbags, doesn’t mean you can create an absolute mess and expect the airbags to save you out there. Airbags don’t guarantee your safety due to a number of reasons. Here is why:
Related: Driver Killed in Crash- Using Fake Seat Belt Clip
Airbags are not the primary safety mechanism:
The first point to know is that SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) airbags are not meant to be the primary safety mechanism. The airbags will protect you by preventing impact on your body from your chest and above and are supplementary units to prevent injury to the head or chest from the steering or dashboard or glass or anything else.
The airbag will work only if seatbelts are fastened:
The SRS Airbag System is designed to supplement the seatbelt system and improve occupant protection in certain types of collisions. In most cases, airbags won’t deploy if seatbelts aren’t fastened, since airbags without seatbelts on will cause serious whiplash injury.
In the event of a collision, a sensor will detect the impact, calculate the collision intensity, and deploy the airbag. The time it takes for the airbag to finish deploying is approximately 0.03 seconds. That deployed airbag will deflate and the total time it takes is about 0.1 seconds.
Related: Why You Should Always Wear Seat Belts…
The human eye blinks for about 0.1 -0.3 seconds. For this reason, some who have been near an airbag deployment report they didn’t see the airbag expand because it happens so rapidly.
Not suitable for persons with short height:
The speed at which an airbags deploy is nearly 300km/h that’s almost as same as a bullet train! And it’s supposed to be targeted towards your chest, not your head. That’s one of the reasons why auto manufacturers offer tilt-adjustable steering wheels & height-adjustable seats today, however, ironically the seat height adjustment is not available in most locally assembled cars.
Airbags & Seatbelts with pre-tensioners:
Imagine if you are traveling at 120km/h and God forbid you are involved in a collision, due to the speed momentum you will fly away from the vehicle if nothing is holding you in place. That’s why you MUST wear seatbelts. Plus you don’t really don’t want an object traveling at a speed of 300km/h in the opposite direction hitting you on your head.
The pre-tensioner mechanism uses an explosive charge to drive a concealed piston when sensors detect the signature abrupt deceleration of an accident. The piston, in turn, rapidly drives the spool around which the fabric strap of a seatbelt is wrapped. That incredibly fast retraction of the belt fabric removes the slack from the belt instantly. This extra seatbelt “pre-” tension, moments prior to the full force of impact, pulls the bodies of the driver and front-seat passengers firmly into their seats. This positions them so as to receive the maximum protection benefit of the front airbags.
Airbags are tested at a certain speed:
The crash testing bodies around the world test the functionality of airbags at a certain speed which varies from 50km/h to up to 64km/h. If you have a vehicle that has a 5-star crash test rating means that it was tested at a maximum speed of 64km/h. Now taking these cars to speed limits above 150km/h and expecting that the airbags will be as effective as 64 km/h is indeed a foolish thing to do.
People often try to take their passenger cars to limits and try to capture the speedometer while driving at such insane speeds on public roads/ highways, which is a very careless act and should be avoided at any cost.
Having Airbags doesn’t mean they are functional too:
Just because your vehicle is equipped with airbags doesn’t mean they are functional too. The Takata airbag recall, which is considered one of the biggest recalls in the automotive world affirms the fact that just the presence of airbags isn’t enough, they have to be properly functional as well.
The India-made Renault Duster was awarded zero stars by Global NCAP in 2017 due to the fact that the Duster came without airbags. At the manufacturer’s request, the Global NCAP tested the version with an optional driver-side airbag and was awarded 3 stars. Interestingly the Renault Duster scored four stars in the Latin NCAP crash test in year 2015.
Related: Indian Renault Duster Scores Zero Star in Global NCAP Crash Test
After a thorough investigation, it was found that the airbags of the India-made Renault Duster were smaller than those of the Colombian Renault Duster. The smaller-sized airbags in the Indian Duster resulted in a lower NCAP rating under the same testing criteria.
So just having a vehicle that comes with an airbag doesn’t guarantee your safety, there are a lot of things that should be kept in check in order to ensure that the airbag will fulfill its purpose.
Remember, safety mechanisms in advanced machines are designed to reduce the risk to life. Don’t risk your life knowing your vehicle is equipped with safety features. No existing technology assures 100% safety of life, they will definitely work to their best but exceeding beyond the limits is sheer insanity.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
