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HELP - AIRBAG QUESTION



Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
Hi there.

I was in a pretty bad accident on the motorway last night when i went into the back of someone at 50+ mph.

Im ok, but im wondering why my airbags didnt deploy ? Not one of them did ?

What conditions are there for airbag deployment ?

Sam!
 
I'm guessing they weren't stationary? As you woudn't be posting now if that was the case.

So you might have been doing 50MPH but the if they were doing say 40, the crash isn't as severe.
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
Ye. Just a really bad neck/back. A nasty seatbelt bruise.

I think the cars dead.

What i noticed was:

Windscreen cracked.
Bonnet up.
Gearbox wouldnt move.
Pedals wouldnt go in.
Couldnt open the drivers door.
Exhaust had pushed backwards pushing the rear bumper off.
Didnt see much of the front end except all the bits flung over the M4.

Doesnt sound good. :(

I just thought the airbags should of deployed. :(
 

Ad

  MK2 FRS
Did you hit the steering wheel or any other part of trim? if not then they didn't need to go off. Straight into the back of someone, spreads the force quite evenly across the crash structures even if cosmetically it looks bad. but there does seem to be quite a bit of damage by your description. Did the pre-tensionar go off on the seat belt?

Good to hear you are ok. Was the ambulance just precautionary because of the whippy?
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
I think so Ad as im ok now. Just sore.

I dont know if the pretensionars went off ? I just have a nasty seatbelt bruise accross my chest. :/

I just thought at them sort of speeds they where ment to go off :/

Sam!
 
Car sounds dead to me. The damage sounds considerably worse than that done to my Fiesta when I rear-ended someone and that was a write-off. Car was worth about £4k at that point. Of course it was back on the road in someone elses ownership fairly sharpish...

As for the airbag - From what I understand it's the severity of the deceleration that causes them to deploy but it doesn't seem to be an exact science. There was summat on TV last night where there was a severe accident involving someone T-boning another car at a junction. The guy driving the car on the main road had severe neck injuries but his airbag didn't deploy. They had to keep him there in the car while the fire brigade deactivated the airbag. They then had to cut him out. If the airbag doesn't go off in an accident like that I'm guessing it can take some doing to set them off.
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
Well, the car was finally brought home last night and i got a shotty photo for you. What do you think regarding damage and airbags ? Should they have gone off ??

5290046234_3c1a48ddcd_b.png
 

Rob

ClioSport Moderator
Hmmmmm... it's quite an "even" crash so maybe the spread force was small enough to not trigger them.

The side ones had no reason to go off really, but the steering wheel probably should have.
 
  07 Campus Sport 1.2
ouch, looks a very sad car now. glad you're ok, rear enders can be bad so you were pretty lucky. what you doing with the car? Im sure some people on here will be interested in parts if you decide to break it, including me :p first dibs on the front seats
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
The car was written off. 11K's worth on damage so its definatly ruined. Ha

New one is here now though.

Sam!
 


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