1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
![]() | [Main 95 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: airbag failure Posted by CrNiFe [Email] ![]() ![]() ![]() In Reply to: Re: airbag failure, r34, Wed, 11 Aug 2004 15:14:43 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Hi,
I am an accident reconstruction engineer, and we do work for the insurance companies in cases like the one you described.
Technically, the side air bag is deployed from a central module that is connected to accelerometers at various positions in the car. Even though I have a 99MY 9-5 SW, I am not sure exactly where they are located. However, the side impact signal is more difficult for the module to detect - in a frontal collision, there is more time to react because typically there is a pre-deployment deceleration which wakes up the module., and then it deploys the airbag.
Believe me, if a malfuction is suspected, the insurance company will be hiring a reconstructionist, hopefully a professional engineer to review all the circumstances, and NHTSA will also be notified of any defect.
There is a debate right now about what level of impact (typically called deltaV, for change in velocity) should be the minimum for deployment of the side airbags. If in this case the impact was away from the detector, or just below the threshold value, the bag may not deploy.
For the same reasons, the length of deployment of the airbags, at 150 milliseconds, is under review because they cannot help the occupants in a rollover collision that typically lasts five or six seconds. And they certainly are of limited usage for an UNBELTED occupant.
For more information, look up the Accident Reconstruction Network at http://www.accidentreconstruction.com/ and you can also look at http://www.igothit.com/
Regards, and safe driving to all our BB buddies!
CrNiFe
99My 9-5SW 2.3lpt, 83000km
posted by 67.70.9...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |