Mazda3 Air Bags Faulty?

[HIFI]

I would say that the Mazda 3 did pretty well.

[Elroi]

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

based on the 2nd pic, masyado malayo yung dash para tumama sa mukha ng passenger if he/she's wearing the seatbelt properly..

[OTEP]

Was the passenger seated properly? Was the seatbelt snug?

The passengers walked away, the vehicle did its job. Dashboards are required to be padded as hitting the dashboard is a high possibility during crashes.

A few cuts and superficial injuries are acceptable.

Btw, my friend crashed her Ford Focus on the STAR Tollway, airbags did not deploy. She consulted me asking for advice whether they should take legal action. I advised her not to.

[oldblue]

based on the 2nd pic, masyado malayo yung dash para tumama sa mukha ng passenger if he/she's wearing the seatbelt properly..

kanino ba blood yun nasa dash? may dog pala in between according to *niky. kawawa naman yun dog

[niky]

Sorry, not according to me... that is merely what I've read in the mazda forums.

Kaya nga, asking for more explanation, eh.

[mazda3driver]

Thank you all for your replies. Here are our answers to every one of your questions:

- OLDBLUE, yung Blood sa dash ay galing sa chin ng wife ko.

- Our 3 month old puppy came out unharmed. My wife still had her on her arms and lap after the crash. If my wife wasn't wearing her seatbelt, she and our would have been thrown off and would have probably let go of our puppy.

- OTEP, We don't think we can remember if the seat belt were snug but we were wearing them. I remembered removing mine to get the towel we had in the back seat to put on my wife's bleeding chin. We removed her seatbelt when we were getting her shoes to bring her out of the car and to the emergency room since she wasn't wearing them.


Injuries to my wife were the following:

1. Four centimeter laceration to my wife's chin. After being stitched. She asked the doctor how many stitches and the doctor said he couldn't count them anymore. His words were "ay di ko na mabilang".

2. Four broken back teeth. She couldn't chew for two weeks. The dentist repaired her teeth 2 weeks after when her stitches and swollen chin were fully healed so she could open her mouth wide.

3. Bruised throat. It was painful when she tried to swallow.

4. Bruised shoulder. Most probably by the seatbelt.

5. Sprained Ankle. She was sitting cross-legged at impact. If she wasn't wearing her seatbelt. She would have certainly been thrown off at this position along with our puppy.

My injuries were the following:

1. Three centimeter laceration inside my lower lip. It required 4 stitches. Me and my wife were in liquid diet for 2 days and 3 nights.

2. Swollen jaw. I could only open my mouth wide enough to put in a straw.

3. Laceration in my upper lip that didn't require stitches.

4. Bloody nose.

5. Bruised forehead.


- OLDBLUE, Malayo nga yung dashboard pero yun na nga, tumama pa rin kami. That is why we needed that supplementary restraining system.

- HIFI, I disagree, the Mazda3 did not do well and the air bags would have saved us all those head and facial injuries.

- OLDBLUE, Baka nga pumalpak yung seatbelts kaya ok talaga sana kung bumukas yung parehong air bags.

- OTEP, you are right, after researching this for 23 straight days now, air bag deployment is complicated but we certainly needed it at that crash. Air bags are supplementary. Since the primary restraints (seatbelts) still made us hit the wheel/dashboard, we needed that supplementary protection.

None of you can convince me that we would still have those facial injuries even if the air bags deployed.

Yes we shouldn't have been holding our puppy up front. We have two options. Either buy that expensive cage that wouldn't really assure the puppy's safety or just double check if our seatbelts are snugged tight and drive a little more carefully.

Now that you've mentioned it, we could probably sue for those seatbelts.

- NUGUNDAM93, I came from the Mazda warehouse in Pioneer Street last week to get the rest of my stuff. I found 3 other MAZDA3's wrecked due to frontal crashes.

One of them had its air bags deployed. I guess he was moving fast enough. Here is a picture that I took with my phone:
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1812/11599895.575c6e.jpg

Its not too far from the wreck of my car and from these two other MAZDA3's where the air bags also did not deploy:
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1812/11599897.ea8b70.jpg
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1812/11599898.e2cca1.jpg

I've checked my manual and it mentioned air bag deployment of 20kph but no mention about no deployment with impacts to trees or poles. If that's the case, then wouldn't that worry you? Especially in the roads of our country filled with poorly lighted and poorly reflectorized poles, concrete, barriers, dividers, fly-over columns, etc.

- ANONIMOUS, that's exactly how we feel. Though our vehicle accident injuries were the worse that we've ever gone through, we feel very lucky because we know of others way way worse.

I've had two friends die in car accidents. One just last year and one in the early 90's. Both were in their early 20's.

From interviews with other mechanics, I've now learned of the accordion design of modern cars that crumple to absorb the impact. But we still feel the air bags would have also saved us from those head and facial injuries. It does create doubt if they will work at all.

I guess if I died, Mazda would have taken this incident a little bit more seriously.

- NUGUNDAM93, tama ka, pare-pareho ang calibration nila. I've researched it. That is why I have doubts about the MAZDA3. I also found this incident in North America where 2004 MAZDA3 vehicles like mine were recalled due to defects with the air bag:

http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/mazda/mazda_3.htm
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm

- BLUEBIMMER, salamat, mahalaga nga ok pa kami. Maganda lang info itong kwento ko para sa lahat. Kasi pati ako, akala ko basta

FRONTAL CRASH + WHOLE FRONT SECTION DESTROYED + TOTAL WRECK = AIR BAGS SHOULD DEPLOY

pero lumalabas na hindi pala ganon... or hindi pala ganon para sa lahat ng MAZDA3. Nakakatakot, MAZDA3 is currently the top compact sedan 2 years in a row. I have 3 other close friends and 2 close relatives who drive them.

- THEVEED, it turns out your right, seatbelts and airbags are meant to prevent death, not injuries entirely. I hope they have told me about that at the dealership before I spent more money buying a car with dual air bags.

- Lastly, NIKY. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. Injuries are mentioned above.

2. My height is 5' 6". I set the distance of my chair as far as I can to be comfortable just as long as I could reach to floor the brake and gas so I would say, my seat setting would probably be somewhere in the middle.

3. My wife usually sits cross-legged or in indian position. She had our puppy on her lapped but naturally not strapped to the seat belt.

4. We are fully insured but not in-house. Its been more than 3 weeks and insurance told us that we would still wait probably 2 more weeks. Its insured at P800,000. We just hope we get the full amount. Mazda did not offer to replace our car and also denied our request for a temporary car.

For sure, the one who will buy the salvaged car are planning to fix and re-sell it.

Whether airbag deployment would have been either a blessing or a curse, I still stand firm that we would have been better off if those airbags deployed.

It just doesn't make sense where you go thru a total-wreck frontal-crash accident resulting to head and facial injuries and they tell you that you weren't moving fast enough at impact for the air bags to have deployed.

Well, it turns out that's the case here so that is why we've been posting this story. My research the past 3 weeks have turned out to be very educational and I thought it would be nice to share it with everyone.

ZOOM ZOOM! :O)

[mazdamazda]

None of you can convince me that we would still have those facial injuries even if the air bags deployed.

bro... try googling about "airbag death"... and you'll know why airbag deployment is VERY selective... some info:

Airbags detonate with about 2000 pounds of force at more than 200 mph. This much force can amputate fingers, fracture bones in the arm and face, or even kill; especially if you are too close to the airbag when it detonates. Even "depowered" airbags deploy at 180 mph. The force of the bag is intended to hit an average man in the chest, but shorter people are hit in the face. This impact is especially dangerous for those shorter than 5'4", children, the elderly and those with Osteoporosis, heart surgery or other medical conditions.

At lower speeds and with smaller passengers and drivers, especially women and children, the excessive force of being hit by the airbag at speeds up to 200 mph, can have devastating results. Serious injuries, including whiplash, eye injuries, blindness, degloving , partial decapitation, quadriplegia and even death.

[lm723]

Thanks for sharing bro, i understand how you feel with those airbags. But good thing nothing happened really bad to both of you.

BTW, curious lang ako. Will you get another Mazda3? Or try different brands/model? Kse for sure, ang magiging effect nito if Mazda will not try to fix the problem if may problem talaga is ung brand nila. We all know now na ung airbags ay nde lagi mag de-deploy kse may restrictions sila sa lahat nang brands. But, sa panahon ngayon if nde nakaka intindi ung makaka rinig yari ang Brand.

IMO

[niky]

Well, like I said, non-deployment in case of single point impact is in the Ford Manuals, and it should have been in the Mazda manual as well, since they're under the same umbrella. That's a major oversight that they must address.

Yes, airbag non-deployment would worry me if I had faith in them in the first place. But then, that's why I always force even my rear seat passengers to wear their seatbelts. Surviving a crash, no matter how good the car is, is never an assured thing. Just ask the guy who burned to death in his overturned Vios a few years ago... now that's something you don't expect modern cars to do. In other words, don't rely on the car... the driver is the most important safety device... especially considering the hazards of driving in Manila. You ought to sue the MMDA for their placement of those barriers... in fact, a class action suit has been in order for some time now... I've seen lots of cars meet their sad end because of these.

Condolences for your injuries. I still maintain that the car did its job, though. You are right that injuries wouldn't have been as severe with airbags, and possibly limited to minor bruising and burns, but like we've said, it's always a mixed blessing. At least you are safe now.

As for claims on seatbelts, it's a long shot, as you didn't suffer any broken bones, but maybe you can talk them into a settlement or ask for assistance... or at least a discount on your next automobile. Sadly, as you aren't on in-house insurance, they may not be as receptive.

It's not just that in-house is supported by the dealership, it's also the fact that a lot of paperwork is easier facilitated by this.

I wish you luck with the insurance, it can be a right headache with claims this large. On an accident claim I had worth almost 100k, one company took almost three months to respond. On another worth 300k, another (in-house) took less than 3 days (I'm glad I got that one).

I hope this incident hasn't soured your view of your automobile... or of autos in general. It just sucks that this incident happened at all and that you have to go through the pain of bargaining, pleading and dickering with corporate types who see you as a loss on their bottomline... ...they should be a little more helpful, as word-of-mouth about kindness on their part could turn this issue from "hey, I got injured in their car!" into "hey, I got into an accident and their car kept me alive." Are you listening, Mazda Philippines?

Good luck, sir. I hope the insurance company doesn't cheat you out of your money. Keep us updated on things.

And belatedly, a rather sad welcome to tsikot.

[mazda3driver]

bro... try googling about "airbag death"... and you'll know why airbag deployment is VERY selective... some info:

Yes i've also researched that. Airbags are designed to be fully deployed before your impact to the wheel/dashboard. I have four friends who got into an accident in south superhighway where all air bags of their Pajero deployed. All were able to walk away from it. Driver was wearing his seat belt. Front passenger and rear passengers were not wearing any. Front passenger was able to duck under the dashboard. The worse injury was the right rear passenger where he was brought to the emergency room for some bodily injuries but no broken bones were seen after x-rays.

I would have wanted those air bags.