Mazda3 Air Bags Faulty?

[mazda3driver]

And, shame on me for forgetting... if you impact a pole on the driver's side or the passenger's side instead of straight down the middle, the force isn't completely transferred to the car, but turned into angular momentum, as the car spins around the pole. So if the pole impacts on the driver's side, his injuries may be great, but survivable, as the car doesn't transfer all of its momentum to the pole.

Yes NIKY you have thrown every technical explanation there is.

I'm just curious, why are you doing your best to prove the air bags were not faulty?

Why can't there be any reasonable doubt that something on the system didn't work fine?

Don't cars malfunction once in a while? Don't they lose breaks? Doesn't the air conditioner bog down? Doesn't the power windows get stuck? Why are you so sure that the functionality of our air bags were at 100%?

[mazda3driver]

It'd be kinda dumb if people actually rdepended their life on a canvas bag with an explosive charge in it. At least a lot of us here at the forums do belt up. And that's the smart thing to do.

It is also dumb for people to say that we would have had more injuries if the air bags have deployed.

It is also not smart of you to kick a person while he is down.

The nerve of you to call me dumb.

I am also curious with you OTEP. Why are you also doing your darn best to show the air bags functioned properly? Like NIKY, you don't see any reasonable doubt of mechanical failure?

[mazda3driver]

I find this link (as posted by Hero33) very informative.

RE: frontal crash with the driver asleep.

In a single word. No.

A sleeping driver with their head canted forward is at risk of suffocation or a broken neck in an airbag deployment scenario. A limp person has good survivability, though, in a frontal crash, because they tend not to stiffen up or lock up their muscles on impact, and can roll with and absorb the force without much damage... why do you think drunk drivers often get away from bad crashes unhurt?

Oh you found another loop hole there I see. I'm really amused how you and OTEP are doing everything in their power to defend the air bag non-deployment.

Ok what if the driver wasn't asleep and his head wasn't canted forward.

Let me rephrase:

If you were a passenger in a car moving at around 40kph and saw you were about to hit a meralco post (you don't know if your husband/wife driving fell asleep or just wasn't keeping his/her eye on the road), would you have wanted the air bag to deploy at impact?

[an0nim0us]

Is this the same/applicable to locally manufactured Mazdas?



"Mazda3 Recalled for Airbags

Mazda is recalling its 3 compacts for a potential problem with the vehicles' airbags. About 42,000 3s sold in the U.S. are included in the recall, which involves 2004 model-year cars. Mazda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) say that a crack in the cars' airbag housing could lead to a leak and a failure of the airbag sensor. Mazda will repair the cars under warranty. "

here's the link - - - - > http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto...173.A7611.html

[parakitoJDM]

i've been reading the thread for a week now and IMHO, the way to really ascertain if the car has faulty Airbags is to Start the Engine of the Mazda3 and just let it be stationary and ask dilapidated/thrashable jeepney to smack into it Head On. at about 40Kph. and let's see this time if airbags will deploy or not.

[mazda3driver]

http://www.interfire.org/features/le...?date=01022002

Just playing Devils Advocate since 666 is near...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

Thanks Hero33. These are very interesting and insightful.

[mazda3driver]

I think everyone here want's to know when is an airbag like a cushion and when is it like a shotgun on your head?

According to here, http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edud...s/airbags.html, airbag final velocity is around 89.4 m/s or 320km/h (I think).

Thanks Bravoexo. This is one of the best studies I've read since I started researching air bags.

[mazda3driver]

Yup, our 3's do have that lock.

Although it would support the theory that the car was indeed not going that fast, if this lock didn't latch the passenger in her place to begin with, wouldn't it?

Probably, and the air bags would have greatly reduced our head and facial injuries.

Don't these barriers, even the ones near the Petron station, all line up with the road lane marks?

No, they are not lined up very well and are not reflectorized very well but I guess thats the least costing way for the MMDA to try and control the traffic caused by the buses.

[caloyski5]

getting hot in here..whew

edit: imho, sir niky and sir otep are just inspecting everything from all angles thinking out of the box ba. .

[mazda3driver]

What? I never said that you were "better off" without the airbags. What I did say, was I have doubts on why you should have confidence on the effectiveness of the airbag. I personally wouldn't put all of my trust on one. Like OTEP, I'm not that big of a fan of the airbag either,

It wouldn't matter to me if the airbags deploy at 37KPH. Heck, if I hit a pedestrian at that speed he's actually likely to survive.



(From http://research.marshfieldclinic.org...torVehicle.htm, which cites Pasanen E. Driving speeds and pedestrian Safety: A mathematical model. Copenhagen: Nordisk Kabel- og Traadfabriker; 1992:41)

Ok so I guess you and OTEP also wouldn't want those air bags to deploy when you crash a meralco post at 37kph.

Well trust me, I've gone through the injuries of smashing my face at the wheel and seen my wife suffer after smashing her face to the dashboard too. Those air bags mattered to us. Beyond any doubt.

I really find it very strange how you can't understand why we feel so unfortunate those air bags did not deploy.

By the way, that pedestrian thing and that link you posted has absolutely nothing to do with what we're talking about.