Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 22:34:30 -0800 From: Justin VanAbrahams <jvanabranopsamnet> Subject: Re: Who said Bentley was so good?
Chris Thurrott wrote: > > Justin: > > Forgive my ignorance. I guess we're both half right about power (capacitors > could fire the bag, but they are charged by the 12 V battery). The Saturn > (I think) has a similar system. > > I'm more worried about somehow accidentally shorting across the sensor, thus > triggering the airbag. Unlikely I grant you, but possible. > > My physique definitely is not impressive enough to trigger an airbag on its > own (although I seem to have blown a little hot air on this subject). > > Best regards, > > Chris Gotcha... the sensors are located in the front and rear fenders - the front ones are very visible. They are connected to an ECU which decides whether the sensed impact is enough to deploy the bag itself... An inadvertant short or similar accident couldn't deploy the airbag - you gotta actually hit the sensor with intention, while the main ECU has power enough to work and decide whether or not to deploy the bag... An accidental deployment *could* happen, but you would have to be dealing with a very unlikely set of circumstances... -Justin