Mazda3 Air Bags Faulty?

[niky]

Feel sorry for you, dude.

So, what's happened with the insurance money? What car did you finally get?

[mbeige]

I was once driving along Edsa dodging those concrete barriers when a BMW with HIDs was tailgating me. Muntikan na siya sumobsob sa barrier at the last minute when I didn't swerve as much (paid attention) but he was too close to me he did not notice it kagad kaya medyo panic swerve siya. I was in the Jazz kaya very nimble yung handling but of course slow enough to be safe. Thing is yung BMW was behind me sobrang dikit so sabi ko sige I'll accelerate a bit to put some distance but I dodged the barriers too.

Mahirap na rin yung mga barriers na ganyan. Lalo na sa Q. Ave where they curve into the 2nd or 3rd lanes maski walang reflective paint. Yung iba rin natutumba dahil yung mga mahahabang truck/busses hit them when making a U turn.

I think the blame should be put on the barriers na hindi reflective because they post a hazard. Personally I think the airbags should not have deployed at that speed but considering it's a very concentrated crash not like a full frontal/40% offset crash where the damage is somehow distributed, malaki yung damage kahit na mabagal pa rin yung takbo. It is a special case, actually.

If you hit a car at that speed I think the airbag would have deployed lalo na pag full use of the crumple zones but in your case I understand why you want the bags to deploy.

If you look at this link: http://www.mynrma.com.au/2004_04_Mazda3.asp

The HIC for the Mazda 3 is stated at 371 for driver and 341 for passenger. The HIC is the Head Injury Criterion (HIC), a measure of the potential for head injury. At a HIC of 1000 one in 6 adults will suffer from life-threatening injury to their brain. Considering na 1000 yung reference point and the value of 371 and 341 is above the 33% chance of receiving brain injury, medyo malaki nga yan kapag 40% offset at 64kph.

On the same site, I quote:

The passenger compartment held its shape well in the offset crash test. The front part of the driver's floor was pushed rearwards 60mm. The brake pedal moved rearwards by 73mm and upwards 25mm, relative to the driver's seat. The dash moved 26mm towards the driver. The steering wheel hub moved forwards 8mm, downwards 11mm and sideways 2mm, relative to the driver's seat. The front ("A") pillar moved 12mm rearwards. The width of the driver's doorway shortened by 10mm. All doors remained closed during the crash. After the crash all doors could be opened with normal effort.

There is definitely cabin intrusion in your case but I'm glad that's all you received. I think the only reason the airbags did not deploy is because the concentrated collision via the concrete (nearly immovable) barrier was focused on the part of the vehicle that has the least resistance (most absorption) to the crash. Therefore with that, the deceleration figures aren't high enough because the energy was absorbed by the crumple zones of your vehicle. If the deceleration figure wasn't high enough then the SRS sensor would not trigger the airbag to deploy.

In the case where your car would have hit the barrier flatly (full frontal crash) there'd be a much higher chance that the bags would deploy. It is like throwing a metal rod into wet soil. The rod will strike the soil dead on and penetrate it deeply since maliit yung area of contact. But if you threw a block of metal, it would only splat on the surface. However, the splat would have triggered the airbag because the deceleration would be higher (hence, the splat) compared to the metal rod (similar to Mazda3driver's case) where the car absorbed the energy and lowered the deceleration figures significantly.

The force of impact of the metal rod, compared to the metal block, would be smaller since the distance of deceleration was longer. Hence, if the force of impact was smaller, the airbag would not have deployed.

However I am not defending the airbag's non-deployment, I am only saying how they work from what I've learned in physics.

Anyway, I hope this has cleared why the air bag did not deploy. Rest assured that I hope and pray that you and your wife have recovered from the accident. With that I also hope your grievances with Mazda/Ford have already been settled, or will be.

[chr1smj_15]

sayang ung mazda mo. ok lng un buhay pa nman kyo bili ka na lng ulit bro.

[ronw123w124]

Wala kasi magawang matino yan si B.F., wala nang ginawa yang mga concrete barriers na yan kundi magdulot ng aksidente

[suysuy]

buhayin ko lang to, kakatakot pala.

sa honda city ko puno nga ng safety features like ABS/EBD/BA Dual SRS. kaso napaisip rin ako na will the airbags deploy if i really need it? damn

[niky]

Depends.

Just read back for experiences from others.

Of all the accidents I've been in, witnessed and responded to (went out to help)... I've only seen airbags go off maybe half-a-dozen times. Less than ten percent of all the accidents I've seen have popped them open... and I've seen big ones.

The only answer is: buckle up, sit well back from the dashboard (but not so far away that you can't press the brake pedal and clutch pedal to the floor) and drive safely.

[MAXBUWAYA]

is the airbag even there?

ang pagkakaalam airbag ang isa sa ninananakaw sa loob ng kotse bukod sa car stereo. Naibebenta iyan.

[niky]

Unless you disconnect the battery (which most thieves don't have the time or the patience to do... an open hood on a parked car is too conspicuous), airbags are very dangerous to tinker with.