airbags only deploy if seatbelts are worn?

[zimu]

i figure that may be true for the passenger side. but is this true for the driver too? they have to be wearing their seatbelts for the airbag to deploy in a crash??

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Not at all. In fact, the whole reason for airbags in the first place was because some people were too stupid to wear their seatbelts.

 

[zimu]

any literature on this? i read it on another forum, would like to post a link.

 

[Aikouka]

My car will always deploy the driver's side air bag. It will not deploy the passenger's side air bag if it detects no one in the seat or someone who's too small for an air bag. If it detects someone who's too small, it will illuminate that the air bag is off. It won't do this if there's no one in the seat.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: zimu
any literature on this? i read it on another forum, would like to post a link.

Wikipedia

 

[Pacemaker]

There may be some truth to this, but now that they use less forceful airbags than the original type it's really not needed. They had several incidents where people were badly injured by the airbag if the seat belt wasn't engaged, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few cars out there like this, but probably not any made in the last 7 years.

Again I don't know if this is actually true, but I could see a car maker doing this as a stop gap solution until the new airbags were ready.

 

[Pacemaker]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: zimu
any literature on this? i read it on another forum, would like to post a link.

Wikipedia

Answer in the link:

To protect occupants not wearing seat belts, US airbag designs trigger much more quickly than airbags designed in other countries. As seat belt use in the US climbed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, US auto manufactures were able to adjust their designs. Today all airbag control units recognize if a belt is used and set the trigger time accordingly.

 

[AgentJean]

I had a 96 Nissan Altima, I was in a accident and both air bags pops. I was the only 1 in the card yet both went off.

The air bags cost more to repair then I paid for my car and over 75% the total worth of the car.

 

[zimu]

i'm guessing this holds true for european / asian cars too?