As the last post stated, whether your side curtain airbag deploys in an IIHS style head on collision is based on what car you are in. Barring some major malfunction, the frontal airbag will deploy, if you have a frontal airbag. It's literally a requirement to make a good rating. There's a heck of a lot of force in a 40 mph head on collision. Most frontal airbags are designed to go off in about a 12-16 mph head on collision; a 40 mph collision is 6-11 times that force. In other words, in today's cars, if that frontal airbag doesn't inflate, serious injury or death is likely. If it works properly, you'll likely walk away in a good rated vehicle.
Frontal airbag non deployment happens very rarely in the IIHS moderate overlap test, and when it does it's as often a fault of test preparation as vehicle malfunction. The final tests are only in the results for each model year: some vehicles had airbag malfunctions that were fixed, such as the 2003 Honda Pilot, which had a late airbag deployment in its first test. The problem was fixed, and in the final test, the airbag worked properly.
"Bottoming out", where the airbag is insufficiently inflated to prevent hard contact with the steering wheel, does happen more often. Because many vehicles prior to 2003 had poorer structure designs and the curtain post focused on 2003-present vehicles, this post focuses on trends since 2003 on airbags bottoming out. Results are given in "sufficiently inflated" percentages: a "sufficiently inflated" airbag prevented hard contact with the steering wheel.
2003 model year: 78% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 14 of 18 vehicles tested.
2004 model year: 62% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 13 of 21 vehicles tested.
2005 model year: 70% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 16 of 23 vehicles tested.
2006 model year: 90% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 19 of 21 vehicles tested.
2007 model year: 79% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 26 of 33 vehicles tested.
2008 model year: 87% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 33 of 38 vehicles tested.
2009 model year: 81% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 25 of 31 vehicles tested.
2010 model year: 75% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated. 18 of 24 vehicles tested.
2011 model year: 100% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 32 of 32 vehicles tested.
2012 model year: 84% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 21 of 25 vehicles tested.
2013 model year: 90% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 27 of 30 vehicles tested.
2014 model year: 96% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 22 of 23 vehicles tested to March 30, 2014.
A noticeable trend has occurred, with fewer airbags bottoming out in the IIHS moderate overlap. From 2003-2005, 69.3% of airbags held the drivers away from the wheel. 2006-2010 had 82.3%, and 2011-2014 92.7%.
Frontal airbag non deployment happens very rarely in the IIHS moderate overlap test, and when it does it's as often a fault of test preparation as vehicle malfunction. The final tests are only in the results for each model year: some vehicles had airbag malfunctions that were fixed, such as the 2003 Honda Pilot, which had a late airbag deployment in its first test. The problem was fixed, and in the final test, the airbag worked properly.
"Bottoming out", where the airbag is insufficiently inflated to prevent hard contact with the steering wheel, does happen more often. Because many vehicles prior to 2003 had poorer structure designs and the curtain post focused on 2003-present vehicles, this post focuses on trends since 2003 on airbags bottoming out. Results are given in "sufficiently inflated" percentages: a "sufficiently inflated" airbag prevented hard contact with the steering wheel.
2003 model year: 78% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 14 of 18 vehicles tested.
2004 model year: 62% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 13 of 21 vehicles tested.
2005 model year: 70% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 16 of 23 vehicles tested.
2006 model year: 90% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 19 of 21 vehicles tested.
2007 model year: 79% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 26 of 33 vehicles tested.
2008 model year: 87% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 33 of 38 vehicles tested.
2009 model year: 81% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 25 of 31 vehicles tested.
2010 model year: 75% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated. 18 of 24 vehicles tested.
2011 model year: 100% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 32 of 32 vehicles tested.
2012 model year: 84% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 21 of 25 vehicles tested.
2013 model year: 90% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 27 of 30 vehicles tested.
2014 model year: 96% of driver airbags were sufficiently inflated, 22 of 23 vehicles tested to March 30, 2014.
A noticeable trend has occurred, with fewer airbags bottoming out in the IIHS moderate overlap. From 2003-2005, 69.3% of airbags held the drivers away from the wheel. 2006-2010 had 82.3%, and 2011-2014 92.7%.
It’s a good thing that car manufacturers have been constantly working to improve the quality of air bag deployment. This is very important as air bags can literally be a lifesaver when unavoidable car accidents occur.
ReplyDeleteShaun Stille @ Global Parts, Inc.
Yes they can be! It's never good when an airbag is not inflated enough in a crash test.
ReplyDelete