and how dangerous or safe is it driving without airbags?

since my both airbag deployied

i wanna get after market streering wheel.

 

I've seen some crash tests at work, and I wouldn't want to have my head hit the wheel! Although I hate my stock Civic wheel almost enough to buy a momo w/o airbag. Must not be quite enough, because I haven't done it yet.

 

I believe it IS illegal and your insurance CAN deny you coverage if you get into an accident w/ a car that came from the factory w/ an airbag, assuming you didn't tell them you took it out

 

this is from NHTSA, who sets the federal standard in airbag regulation

Under what circumstances will NHTSA allow air bag deactivation?

If the vehicle manufacturer does not make an on-off switch available for a particular vehicle, NHTSA will authorize deactivation for the following reasons:


A rear-facing infant restraint must be placed in the front seat of a vehicle because there is no back seat or the back seat is too small for the child restraint (passenger air bag only).

A child 12-years-old or younger must ride in the front seat because the child has a condition that requires frequent medical monitoring in the front seat (passenger air bag only).

An individual who drives (or rides in the front seat of) the vehicle has a medical condition that, on balance, makes it safer to have the air bag(s) turned off (driver and/or passenger air bag, as appropriate). Each request based on a medical condition must be accompanied by a written statement from a physician unless the request is based on a medical condition for which the National Conference on Medical Indications for Air Bag Deactivation recommends deactivation.

Drivers who must sit within a few inches of the air bag (typically because they are extremely short-statured, i.e., four feet, six inches or less (see Note 3) (driver air bag only).

 

so unless you're short, 6 years old, or have a medical condition, not using airbags is illegal . that correct?

 

Sounds like it is illegal. I'm all for safety (see my above post) but one question:
Who cares. The only diff it makes is less work for hospitals maybe, or less work for the guy that has to clean up blood and guts w/ your head smashed all over.
O.K. this is disgusting, but it's one of the only reasons, besides the govt. just trying to protect us (I know that's important too, but...)

 

these cars were not produced w/ air bags...obviously they can't mandate an expense like this for those vehicles produced before the law went into effect

 

Hmmm, just get a rollbar, fixed (bucket) racing seats and 4 pt harnesses, then you can feel a little better about removing your airbag.

 

Yep its illegial to willfully disable the airbags except for the reasons cited by Jason.

Willful disabling of factory installed safety equipment will most likely be reason for your insurance to fight a "big" bodily injury claim. Now, not getting around to fixing a deployed airbag will probably be different than if you put in an aftermarket steering wheel. (even though the factory one had a deployed airbag)...but ask a lawyer to be sure.

Finally, the last time I checked accidents only happended to other people. They never happen to "us" in unexpected times, and in unexpected ways!

Seriously. if you ever had a loved one hurt in a car wreck and helped them thru physical rehabilitation, you would keep the airbag and all other safety equipment intact.

Regards,
BigMoose

 

I can't speak for every state but in Maryland it IS NOT illegal to drive without airbags. It is however illegal for a mechanic or body shop to disable them. There is still a lot of controversy over the effectiveness of the units and as a result the law allows for them to be disabled since many people (myself included) feel that they can cause more injury than they prevent.

 

Iagree with this.

George, why will a 4 Point harness get you a ticket in Virginia?
I don't want to start debate, but 4 pt harness are sure as hell alot safer than regular seat belts.

 

I have No airbags, A rollbar and Harness. I sit upright and close to the wheel even though I an 5' 10" .I have concerns for myself and others that ride in my car but those outway my concerns of having an airbag deploy durning an off-track excursion, (berm, sand trap, armco,) that I could have otherwise driven away from. The car is not a daily driver, but is still driven on the street.

Actually non of my 2nd cars have had airbags from thefactory Audi 80 (current), 4runner, Volvo 240, GTA, Formula 350, Regal, Grand Am, LUV, Escort GT CRX, .......................and so on. My wifes 2001 SUV will keep the airbags.

Mattj

 

I'll take this one:

In a rollover, the occupant of the vehicle usually, due to momentum, is in a semi-, to fully horizontal position as the roof hits the ground. The seatbelt allows this.

Now, picture the same rollover while being held upright by the harness as the vehicle rolls, the roof collapses & the occupant is crushed. This causes what we in the fire service refer to as "injuries incompatible with life".

A rollbar adds exponential support to the passanger compartment of a vehicle. It greatly supports the roof in the event of a rollover. Without it, all that is holding the roof up are the A, B, & C posts, as well as the glass. And that ain't much.

BTW...you really don't want to see what a human looks like after being rolled over by a vehicle.

 

I would run a bar and harnesses. If a bag deploys as has been previously stated you no longer remain in control of said vehicle.....and this can be bad.....

Personnally as soon as my bar goes in the bags will come out....i would feel just as safe, if not more so b/c after the intial (airbag deploying) impact I could still have a measure of control over the vehicle possibly avoiding the next series of impacts.

 

aftermarket steering wheel

 

yes of course. why the hell would someone put a 4 pt harness w/o a roll bar of somesort.

I apologize for not being specific enough and leaving an assumption to be made.
As for WhiteTypeR (I believe), you have it well said

 

For a daily driven street vehicle, it is difficult to improve further upon the stock saftey features.

Just from the point of head injuries, say you were to "properly" install a roll bar/cage, seat and 5 (or 6) point harness: when you're driving around on the street you aren't wearing your helmet or your neck roll.

Suprisingly enough, as snug as those harnesses feel when you drive around and corner at over 1g in some cases, it is totally different when you smack into something. THose suckers stretch like you wouldn't believe--or more accurately, a lot more than you think they would. So you're still going to move around a bit (depending on the force of the impact) and your head could very well smack into the bar. IF you are just wearing your seat belt, you are definitely going for a ride (again, depending on how hard you're hitting) and probably going to smack into something. With no helmet on you're probably going to be a goner, even if you did wrap it in some high density SFI-rated foam. (THis is why there is a roll bar hazard/anvil in Snell standards.)

(Interesting note, awhiles back, NASCAR guys were building cages that had a diagonal from the right hadn side of the footwell of the passenger side running all the way above to the driver to fully triangulate the cage to make it super strong during a roll over or what not. Unfortunately the drivers were beating their heads silly on it when they hit anything.... For the guys that watch WRC, check out an onboard camera when those guys take a spill, the driver and navigator's smack their heads together repeatedly like bowling ***** or something....)

Now say you were lucky enough to not to smack into the bar, and your buckled into your harness, granted, the harness "stretches" but it gives a lot less than a seat belt would. During that decelleration of your body, your head is going to keep on moving in whatever direction it was going in the first place (inertia) because you don't have your neck roll on and you may suffer from some neck injury.

A few milliseconds extra is all it takes during an impact to determine if you're going to "walk it" or not. The saftey engineers of cars design the car as a system to keep you alive during an accident. Tweak, change or introduce some other factor into the system, you are probably going to detract from it's performance. The track guys can get away with this because they employ an entirely different system specifically tailored to their needs dictated by their environment which they are subjected to, that are different than the ones on the street.

Now for the companies like Momo and Sparco (that don't ahve airbags) their wheels do have to pass TUV and who knows what other regulations. The stipulation that makes a non airbag wheel "safe" is that it collapses (along with the steering boss) in teh event of an accident: that way you reduce your chances of injury.

But back to the original question: Is it illegal to drive without an air-bag?

Gotta check with local legislature, but it sounds like it is unless it's due to the reasons mentioned above.

-Geo

 

After seeing some of the stuff I see on a daily basis there is no way in hell I would drive on the street without an airbag.

 

Poison:

You'd be suprised as to how many cars I've seen w/ harnesses & NO roll cage.

Some people are just too dumb too live.

 

As somebody that has been in an accident. The airbads do deflate very, very quick. However, there is so much smoke and crap in the air from the airbags that you can not seen, unless your windows are down and you are moving. It also makes it damn near imposible to breath.

Craig - Who did not like when he did this:

 

owned part 1?

 

Owned by a 14 year old driving his moms car and desided to do an illegal u-turn across 3 lanes of traffic after trying to go on a turnpike off ramp. Nuthing I could do but nail the fawker. He then procceded to leave and bail the car in the middle of the street. They later caught him at his moms house





Craig - Who only had 3 payments left on it

 

Wait a second now.

If you are running around on the street with a roll bar-not a full cage, is there still any reasonable possiblility that one's melon could thwap the bar in the event of an accident? It seems that would only be possible (and much more likely) for those with a full cage, bar running past their head.

This makes it seem that a rollbar and harnesses, with a non-SRS wheel would be pretty damn safe on the street, except for maybe a nasty multiple roll which the bar couldn't protect you against (i.e. roof caved in front of the bar).

This is all provided you wear the harnesses and not the stock seatbelts while on the street, of course.

Eh?

 

I would agree, if it's an everyday driven car i would wise to have an airbag, regardless... Nowadays, if not yourself some foo can f**k you up... be safe.

 

You dont think you want to wear your harnesses on the street, I tried once, and was a hazard with them on, When your on the street you have to lean forward to look left and right at turns at stop signs etc. With a harness on properly you can hardly move, all I could see was the B pillar. Plus I couldnt reach my radio or slighty turn around when backing up