Mazda3 Air Bags Faulty?

**mazda3driver** · May 31st, 2006 01:10 PM

We recently got into an accident. We crashed head-on to a concrete barrier at 60 kph. Both dual air bags did not open resulting to head and facial injuries to me and the passenger. We had bruises at our shoulders due to the seat belts.

Ford and Mazda representatives met with us 11 days later. Investigation by Technical Consultant, Mr. Del Youde of Ford concluded that we weren't moving fast enough at impact. Incidentally, Ms. Gay See of Mazda Greenhills gave us the estimate of the damage and insurance will declare it a total wreck.

http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1734/11098416.fb9a95.jpg
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1781/11404275.da02df.jpg
http://protegetech.org/forums/viewto...=141038#141038
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showt...hp?t=123635745

**niky** · May 31st, 2006 01:32 PM

I've read your story on protegetech.org. And there are some things not specified in the original story that I'd like to know about.

1. What is the extent of your facial injuries and that of your wife?

2. How close do you sit to the steering wheel?

3. What position was your wife in prior to impact? In the posting at protegetech, it was mentioned that she was carrying a dog and trying to protect it. Was she sitting fully upright?

4. How much compensation are you getting from the insurance company? I hope it's in-house, as they have quicker turn-around and won't pester you needlessly for documents. Hopefully, you'll get enough to pay off at least 75% of a new car.

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Reactions:

1. Airbags will not mitigate bruising to your shoulders by the seatbelts, as they are responsible only for terminal deceleration, not initial acceleration. In other words, your shoulders would still have been bruised by the seatbelts at the moment of collision. The Airbags are only there to stop you from cracking your skull on the dashboard if the impact velocity is too high.

2. Whether or not your airbags should have gone off is a very complicated question, involving the type of impact, the speed of deceleration and the angle of impact. From my experience, even with airbag equipped cars, only a few frontal collisions involve airbag deployment, and a collision with any side angle to it may not set them off at all.

Since your car hit a concrete barrier, it is possible that the initial impact did not register as a very hard one, as it was absorbed by your bumper and radiator. The photo indicates that it buried itself in your engine. The pictures indicate that the car absorbed the force of impact completely, and that no deformation of the cabin occurred.

3. Depending on your positions at the point of impact, airbag deployment would have been either a blessing or a curse. If you only sustained minor bruising in the face, airbag deployment may have caused greater damage, resulting in scarring and/or burning from the suddenness and violence of airbag deployment.

I've got a friend who's been hit by an airbag in the face, and if you're thinking it's any gentler than hitting the dashboard... well... it's not... not much.

And if your wife is a short person, there would have been the very real chance of suffocation.

If you or your wife sustained any broken bones from impact with the dashboard, however, that could be cause for complaint. Otherwise, the safety systems responded properly and did help you stay alive.

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Hoping to hear from you, as the reposting on protegetech.org is sadly lacking in details.

And glad that you're safe. Keep us updated on how the insurance company works out.

**theveed** · May 31st, 2006 02:05 PM

and don't forget that the seatbelts and airbags are meant to prevent death, not injuries entirely.

**BlueBimmer** · May 31st, 2006 02:22 PM

sayang mazda3 bro..anyway mas mahalaga nothing happened to you and ur family..

**nugundam93** · May 31st, 2006 03:40 PM

sayang nga yung car. at least you guys are still okay.

in response to the airbag issue...made a separate thread. vehicle design will vary but imo pare-pareho lang calibration nila for airbag triggers. please refer to http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...949#post576949

**an0nim0us** · May 31st, 2006 03:48 PM

Glad there's no serious injury or worse. One thing for sure, the seatbelts prevented that to have come to you. As for the airbags not deploying even *60kph direct frontal crash, is kindof scary and creates doubt if it will ever work at all??? (sorry, just my opinion). But hey, the car did it's job of protecting you - and that's what's important.

**niky** · May 31st, 2006 04:02 PM

*ngundam: Ah... good info. At least it's official that airbags are not expected to deploy in a head on collision with a standing object. I wonder why Ford/Mazda didn't put that in their manuals.

Okay, I've just checked my Ford Manual. This should be the same, mind you, as for Mazda cars.

Frontal Air Bag Activation

A greater than moderate impact will cause the front air bags to inflate in the following cases:

1. Hitting a solid wall straight on at greater than about 22 km/h (14 mph)

2. Frontal impact within about a 30 degree range from head on to the vehicle.

3. Hitting a curb, pavement edge or hard object.

4. Driving into a big hole or hitting the far side of a hole.

5. Landing hard or the vehicle falling.

Limitations to Front Airbag Activation:

Depending on the Severity of the Impact, the front air bags may not inflate in the following cases:

1. Impacts involving trees or poles cause severe cosmetic damage but may not have enough impact to activate the air bag.

2. Rear ending or running under a truck's tailgate may not provide the stopping force necessary for air bag deployment.

3. Frontal offset impact to the vehicle may not provide the stopping force necessary for air bag deployment.

Non-Activation of Front Air bags

Front air bags will not normally inflate in the following cases:

1. Collision from the rear.

2. Vehicle roll-over, may deploy the side air bag(s) but not the front air bags.

3. Impact to the side, but it may deploy a side airbag.

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From the photos available online, the Mazda hit the concrete barrier edge on instead of broadside. A broadside hit would have deployed the airbags, while, in a head-on hit, not enough force is acting on the car at any time to cause airbag deployment.

When you hit a wall, the forces acting on the car are immense, and deceleration is sudden and full. When you hit a post, the car absorbs the post and is either deflected or wraps around it. It's the same amount of weight being decelerated, and the same amount of force, but in the second case, the force is spread out over a longer time period.

**nugundam93** · May 31st, 2006 07:23 PM

and...i've seen a mazda 3 with a totally wrecked front but still intact (yes!) cabin area when we were canvassing last year and checking out the tribute sa mazda quezon ave.

the mazda 3's front crumple zones sure are excellent then.

**OTEP** · June 1st, 2006 01:07 AM

Yes, airbag deployment is a very complicated matter. That is why they are know as SRS. The first 'S' being SUPPLEMENTAL. Meaning, they are not PRIMARY restraint sytems. Hitting the steering wheel isn't such a bad deal as all steering wheel hubs (or bosses as the European folks call them) are required to be 'head friendly' (as with most other materials used in the vehicle's cabin. Steering colums are also of the impact absorbing variety since around the 60's.

Manufacturers are generally free from liability resulting from non-deployment of Supplemental restraint systems as they are only designed to be a supplementary restraint device.

Also, you should not be holding a dog [much more a child] when riding the front seat of a vehicle. You shouldn't really be holding on to anything [e.g. groceries] that could get in between you and the dash/passenger side SRS. If the passenger side SRS had deployed, the cranium of your dog flying into the cranium of your wife would not really be a pretty picture. I transport the dog in a kennel (big dog) or I put a box on the floor behind my seat (they'd still fly in a rollover, however).

Now, if the seatbelts failed, that's the time you sue. As these are primary restraint systems.

**oldblue** · June 1st, 2006 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by mazda3driver

We recently got into an accident. We crashed head-on to a concrete barrier at 60 kph. Both dual air bags did not open resulting to head and facial injuries to me and the passenger. We had bruises at our shoulders due to the seat belts.

Ford and Mazda representatives met with us 11 days later. Investigation by Technical Consultant, Mr. Del Youde of Ford concluded that we weren't moving fast enough at impact. Incidentally, Ms. Gay See of Mazda Greenhills gave us the estimate of the damage and insurance will declare it a total wreck.

http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1734/11098416.fb9a95.jpg
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1781/11404275.da02df.jpg
http://protegetech.org/forums/viewto...=141038#141038
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showt...hp?t=123635745

you had head and facial injuries? pumalpak din seatbelts nyo! from the pics, mukang tumama nga ang wife mo sa dash. hindi dapat ganyan.

when my mom and dad hit a 6 wheeler, the entire engine bay crumpled.
my dad was not wearing a seatbelt, and his head was the one who bashed the windshield into pieces. my mom wore her seatbelts, and she got no head/facial injuires, but she got 2-3 broken ribs. corolla 93 model yun sa'min.