YACT: Civic airbags don't deploy?

[deejayshakur]

doing some research on current gen. civic and found on mycarstats that there have been lots of reports (to ODI) of airbags not deploying during a collision. is that anything you guys have come across? cause non-deploying airbags is not a minor defect.

i'm looking at a 2003 LX 5MT (asking $10,000). is there any way to have the dealer check for this defect?

 

[Pepsi90919]

well, don't crash for one

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: deejayshakur
Is there any way to have the dealer check for this defect?

Hit your bumper with a 20lb sledge. If you hear 2 pops and the interior fills with white smoke, you'll be fine.

 

[deejayshakur]

 

[Colt45]

airbags are for suckers

 

[Evadman]

Go with these.

 

[Thegonagle]

The G-force of the collision must be past a certain threshold for deployment. It's a cost saving measure--there's no need to pop two or four $900 airbags for a 20 MPH crash. Seatbelts are more than adequate in most cases.

They're designed to deploy when it counts, so don't worry.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
The G-force of the collision must be past a certain threshold for deployment. It's a cost saving measure--there's no need to pop two or four $900 airbags for a 20 MPH crash. Seatbelts are more than adequate in most cases.

They're designed to deploy when it counts, so don't worry.

More to the point, the odds of being hurt in a 20 mph frontal collision are probably less than a full-speed airbag deployment.

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
The G-force of the collision must be past a certain threshold for deployment. It's a cost saving measure--there's no need to pop two or four $900 airbags for a 20 MPH crash. Seatbelts are more than adequate in most cases.

They're designed to deploy when it counts, so don't worry.

my worry is when people send in complaints like this:

VEHICLE WAS IN AN ACCIDENT. OWNER WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE PLOWED INTO A PARKED CAR. THE DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG FAILED TO DEPLOY. PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS.

I HIT A HORSE ( ABOUT 1,200 POUNDS) IN THE HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH, THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. I WAS IMMEDIATELY HIT HEAD ON BY A CAR THAT WAS TRAVELING 69 MPH, AGAIN THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. MY VEHICLE WAS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC SEDAN LX. THE CAR WAS TOTALLED. AND HONDA MANUFACTURER HAS REFUSED TO DISCUSS IT WITH ME.

 

[MikeMike]

OMG NO WAY, a foreign vehicle with a problem? but thats a paradox, it cant happen wtf is going on in the world!!!

end of the world?

MIKE

 

[jst0ney]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well, don't crash for one

lifers are so helpful

 

[Xionide]

Get a volvo?

 

[deejayshakur]

the night crew was no help. morning bump.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Hmmm, I'm interested in this too, as my fiancee and I have a 2001 Civic. It's never been in an accident <knock on wood> so I'm afraid I can't offer any insight.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: deejayshakur
the night crew was no help. morning bump.

well, don't crash one.

 

[Jzero]

The airbags are only supposed to go off under certain conditions. It's a safety feature.

Here's the problem - you can't trust reviews made by joe driver because they don't what they are talking about. They have no idea what conditions do or do not cause the airbag to deploy.

But you can't really trust the manufacturer either. They aren't going to just come right out and say that there is a chronic problem with airbags not deploying.

The 7th gen Civic got 5-stars in IIHS frontal crash tests That should ease your nerves a bit, but of course we can't really trust the IIHS 100% either.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: deejayshakur

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
The G-force of the collision must be past a certain threshold for deployment. It's a cost saving measure--there's no need to pop two or four $900 airbags for a 20 MPH crash. Seatbelts are more than adequate in most cases.

They're designed to deploy when it counts, so don't worry.

my worry is when people send in complaints like this:

VEHICLE WAS IN AN ACCIDENT. OWNER WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE PLOWED INTO A PARKED CAR. THE DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG FAILED TO DEPLOY. PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS.

I HIT A HORSE ( ABOUT 1,200 POUNDS) IN THE HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH, THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. I WAS IMMEDIATELY HIT HEAD ON BY A CAR THAT WAS TRAVELING 69 MPH, AGAIN THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. MY VEHICLE WAS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC SEDAN LX. THE CAR WAS TOTALLED. AND HONDA MANUFACTURER HAS REFUSED TO DISCUSS IT WITH ME.

Maybe the Civic was actaully smart enough to understand how reckless these acts were and wanted the drivers to learn their lesson?

 

[Vic]

More people wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

Quite a number of people have died from improper airbag deployment. In response, manufacturers have made it so airbags only deploy when absolutely necessary.

And Jzero is right that most people don't know what they're talking about. I have a friend who was recently involved in a very minor fender bender -- the bumper of his car was barely scratched with no other visible damage and no one injured. Yet he told me he thought the impact speed was "at least" 20 mph. More like 5 mph or less. The issue here is that most people think the impact speed as the same speed as when they hit the brakes, and not the speed at actual point of impact.

 

[Viper GTS]

Jzero & Vic are dead on.

Anecdotal evidence is essentially useless in this kind of discussion.

Modern airbags are smarter than the average driver.

Viper GTS

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: Vic
Quite a number of people have died from improper airbag deployment. In response, manufacturers have made it so airbags only deploy when absolutely necessary.

fair enough, but i thought the implementation of dual-stage airbags was a solution to this.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: deejayshakur

Originally posted by: Vic
Quite a number of people have died from improper airbag deployment. In response, manufacturers have made it so airbags only deploy when absolutely necessary.

fair enough, but i thought the implementation of dual-stage airbags was a solution to this.

Even with dual-stage and the future-tech "infinitely variable" airbags, there are still going to be conditions where the air bag does not go off at all because the explosive force of the airbag will likely cause more injury than if it had not gone off at all.

And, still, very few lay people (myself included) will have the faintest idea whether or not the airbag was SUPPOSED to deploy.

At the end of the day, you really just have to trust that the manufacturer has programmed the computer correctly. You may get in a head-on accident and the airbag may or may not go off, but you'll never know if it was a defect or expected behavior.