StockDX

I need to know at what speed do the airbags deploy at if you hit something.
I hit a car today and the speed that I was said to be travelling at seemed really fast. My air bags didnt go off, but there was considerable damage done to the front of my car. Any help would be great. Thanks

NevadaSol

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really don't think it is speed dependant. I always thought it was just controlled by a few sensors on the front of the car that form a closed loop when impacted, and this causes the ignitor to fire off the air bags.

I have heard of air bags deploying when the car is at a dead stop.

I could be wrong though.


[Modified by NevadaSol, 11:53 PM 5/12/2002]

StockDX

I smacked a car head on going like 55kms and they didnt go off. The front grill was pushed back about 2 feet into the engine compartment. Front end is smashed pretty good. Reason i am curious about the speed thing is because a "witness" said i was going approx 70kms an hour. Which is 20kms over our city street speed limit.




[Modified by StockDX, 12:02 AM 5/13/2002]

NevadaSol

Okay, was all the damage to your bumper, or to your grill area? Was your bumper smashed in pretty good?

Have you ever seen your SRS light up on your guage cluster when you start your car? Maybe it was disabled by a previous owner if it is a used car.

There are several factors why they may not have deployed, I was mainly stating that I do not think it is factored by what speed your car is traveling.

therealciviczc

I'm going to agree! At least on older cars the way it worked was that there is a steel ball in a sleeve that is held back by a magnet (very basic description of something much more complicated). If the car hits hard enough for that ball to break loose and roll to the front, it triggers the bag. There may be something in the bag's control unit that doesn't allow it to go off at low speeds, but I don't think that is the case.

In addition, there was a 01 Civic (when they first came out) at the local Honda garage one day that had very minimal damage and a blown bag and the guy said that it was sitting running with someone in it and someone else backed in to it causing the bag to go off (passengers side only).

If it helps, here is a picture of my civic wrecked with out enough to have the bag blown....

http://www.geocities.com/civiczc/92Si/92civic02.jpg

FifthGearOnline

my first accident was in the rain doing down a hill at 30mph and i hit the hitch of an 87 ford ranger. hood crumpled, bumper had a hole in it and was cracked all over...and my engine took some slight damage.....it was about 4000 dollars total (god i love deductables) and mine never went off

StockDX

1998 DX coupe
Smacked a Dodge caravan head on
Hood is crumpled, looks like an inverted V. Bumper is pushed down almost to the ground, rad, A/C, rad support, engine looks like it is pushed up a bit, fenders got bent to the middle of the wheel wells. I couldnt open up the hood, well, i didnt have too, I could see right in, but anyways engine looked a bit mangled- connections on the front. There was fluid everywhere. Undriveable, had to get towed on a flat bed. Oh in regards to the other question. I never have noticed the srs light up on my cluster when i start the engine. I bought it from a dealer, so i have no idea of it is disabled or not




[Modified by StockDX, 12:26 AM 5/13/2002]

StockDX

Oh, does anyone have cheap body parts. If you do I need a whole bunch

stocker

I got in a pretty serious accident in my 98 civic doing about 55-60 and my bag didn't go off. I hit right on my passenger side headlight, pushing the bumper back into the hood and the fender onto the wheel. Apparently I missed the sensor when I hit the other car.

Mike P.

The speed has nothing to do with when they deploy. It has much more to do with the amount of Gs the car's deceleration has in the forward direction. If you've had a bad wreck and they didn't deploy and you're here to tell us about it, you probably didn't need them. Accidents always feel nasty.

samdawgsol

I hit a car going 15 in the front, ruined the bumper and lights and hood and front impact beam. But the engine was all right and mine didnt go off

My SRS lights up when I start my car.