Quote:
Originally Posted by euromodder
Why would they be a time bomb waiting to happen 
There are millions of hem out on the roads.
Freak accidents with them are very rare.
Crashing without them, is far more likely to cause serious grief than the extremely rare accidental deployment of an airbag.
Don't fool yourself into thinking you have full control over what happens on the road.
If you ever wondered what drove down the number of traffic deaths, rest assured it wasn't people's driving skills.
But as they say, you can't stop a fool from acting like one.
Some say it's foolish to even try and stop them from being foolish. |
On this issue I am indifferent, there are DEFINATELY times when the airbag should be deactivated and definately times it should not be...
Actually freak accidents with airbags are relatively common, its just that they NORMALLY do not kill you or even seriously injure you, although there is a fairly large number of broken noses and other minor injuries from low speed collisions due to airbags.
They just don't get reported all that much because they aren't usually all that serious. I know at least 4 living people who have had airbags go off at some point when they probably should not have. None have caused any serious problem beyond bruises and major expense. Although I will admit those cars were probably all made prior to 1998, maybe a factor.
That said getting a broken nose from an airbag is probably less hazardous than if you rammed into the dash or steering wheel at speed.
Airbags are most dangerous to people who are not in the normal 20-80th percentile. If you are outside that range, too small, too short, etc they can be a hazard because you may not be the proper distance from them hence why they are bad for children and babies.
My grandmother died from injuries due to an airbag deployment some time later. She was small and likely too close to the airbag and she was sitting a bit to the side talking to her friend no doubt. It smashed the heck out of her leg, she survived the accident but died of blood clots from the airbag
Cheers
Ryan May