lamvu

just curious on everyones thought about having an air bag?

lamvu

I searched on the site, most of the stuff that came up was about the passenger side airbag being disable, but what about thet driver side?

What is the effectiveness of airbags?

dimples848

I think for most cases, airbags can save your life. But for me, I sit pretty (or rather, the closest) to the steering wheel. The seat is all the way up and almost upright for me to be able to drive comfortably. I'm pretty sure if I get into an accident in this car that requires my airbag to deploy, I'm dead or seriously injured.

There was some news story on Dateline or something some years ago about airbags. They said airbags are generally made for males who are 5'9+ or something and 200 lbs (big guesstimation, but I know it was way off from my height/weight). Airbags were not designed around women or children. As a result, they're going to deploy with enough force to protect someone of that height/weight. With all the airbag sensors nowadays, it's probably safer since that show/special was a while ago. But I don't think the S2000's seats (prior to '06) has such sensors? Can anyone verify?

I can probably disable the airbag (per NHTSA guidelines/regulations) but I'll still have to find a place who would want to do it. And with everyone waiting one year or more (which I plan to get rid of the car by about a year and a half or two anyway), I don't think it's worth it. I just have to be extremely careful to make sure my airbag doesn't deploy. Ha.

Will

When I was 18 I was doing about 45 mph and a vehicle crossed the road going the opposite direction. Head on collision. I blacked out and woke up half a minute later. The airbag deployed, and I was wearing my seatbelt. The only injury I had was a bruise on my shoulder from my seatbelt. The airbag saved my life. This was in a 1992 Honda Civic hatch.

At the time I was about 5'7" and around 150 lbs. I believe in airbags 1000%.

vtec9

when my S4 hit a concrete wall nearly head on, if it weren't for the airbag, my face would be majorly screwed up. I walked away without a scratch. Thumbs up to airbags.

Clayman

You only need airbags if you want to live through a traffic accident. I value my life, so I'll take as many as they can jam into a car.



PS - Reminds me of the movie Demolition Man. Anyone else?

xviper

I've been involved in some very nasty, major collisions in my job. If you still airbags is some sort of infringement upon your rights and freedoms, think again. The choice is injury vs death. Pick one.

JAXrsx

I think that airbag technology has come a long way from its inception. There may have been a time where they were not 100% effective and/or safe, but I think that that time has passed. They still may not be 100% effective in preventing serious injury/death however I am glad that modern cars are equipped with them.

It amazes me how many people still refuse to wear their seatbelts! It seems like everyday I read about an auto accident fatality that was the result of an "ejection" caused by not wearing a seatbelt.

At any rate, I am 5'11" and sit about as far back as possible so I have never been scared of getting nailed by the airbag. I also always keep my hands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions on the wheel so hopefully they will be out of harms way if (God forbid) my airbag ever deploy.

Craig

iam7head

take a course in physic and you'll found yourself in love with them.

Wisconsin S2k

injury or death. that's your choice to make, not ours.

the only thing an airbag gets in the way of is your head when it decides to make a quick and unexpected journey towards the steering column.


also, height/weight have almost NOTHING to do with airbag effectiveness, assuming you meet the minimum age/height/weight requirements. (we're talking young children size here). as long as your face is at least 12" from the airbag, then you're fine. even then, it's only likely to injure you, which is better than being killed because it wasn't there in the first place.