Mazda3 Air Bags Faulty?

[OTEP]

Don't count so much on airbags. The only sure fire way you would find out if they would reduce your injuries is if you crashed another similar vehicle with you and your wife in it. Even for scientific purposes, I think no one here would allow such a test.

Even in the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) videos of offset barrier crash tests, dummies were still hitting the dash and steering wheels even with the airbags deployed. As I've said, vehicle interiors are designed to be impact friendly. We're not even sure if the soft dash or the hard dog caused your wife's bruising. A four centimeter laceration isn't really that big. However, facial injuries do require finer sutures to minimize scarring. Hence, the increased number of stitches. And none of the injuries you mentioned were life threatening. They are quite common and we get them all the time in the E.R. and not just from car crashes.

As for the dog, when the dog is a bit rowdy and does not want to stay in the box I assigned for it (the box top is open), I just have someone sit in the back to comfort or hold the dog. Yes it does make me look like the family driver but I don't really care. I, too, don't find the expense of buying a kennel very practical.

The seatbelt's job is to keep you in your seats for the duration of the crash and it has done its job. As for the other crash dynamics involved, that is a very complicated matter. I've survived a lot of crashes already (maybe I'm really a bad driver). But never once have I blamed my vehicle for whatever injuries I have received. The simple fact that I could walk away from the crash is already a blessing. Never mind if I could not shrug my left shoulder for a week or if my nose was bleeding afterwards.

Btw, Mazda [as with most other manufacturers] don't make their own airbag systems. They just have them made by their supplier.

Pajero Field Masters only have one airbag. Only the latest GEN III's have dual SRS. On a Pajero FM, the passenger would be hitting the assist bar on the dashboard. The Pajero also has one of the worst crash test results I have ever seen. Siguro nagkopyahan sila ng Nissan Patrol GQ sa exam kasi pareho silang bokya.

The Mazda3 has already benefited from the latest research in safety. Had you been riding in something from the 70's the results could probably have been different. See my link, that is a typical '70s era compact sedan that crashed into me. The driver did not walk away: http://www.pbase.com/otep_r/toyota_land_cruiser_ii

As for suing, do remember that there are NO (ZERO, ZILCH, NADA) airbag standards or regulations for local vehicles for which you can claim that they have not met. The owner's manual also has a disclaimer in it freeing Mazda from any liability. Airbags are only considered bonus items in the local market. Even Volvo and BMW do not put dual airbags in some of its less expensive vehicles here. For all intents and purposes, Mazda can just say that they are not even obliged to put airbags in the vehicles they sell locally.

[caloyski5]

from this end position, tingin ko dapat talaga nag-deploy eh. gano pa ba frontal collision will the SRS mechanism need to deploy eh durog na din kalahati ng engine.
kagaguhan yun sinabi ng mazda rep na you should have been faster and the impact more pronounced. the picture says it all and you've got yourself a convincing lawsuit.

is that a tinted windshield i see? tsk tsk.

[bm5er]

Sometimes I drive my son's Mazda3. One night from Tagaytay, we were driving rather fast, around 100kph or so. We were closing in on a tricycle and the brakes would not seem to hold. I had to step on it real hard when it finally stopped within a reasonable distance from the rear of the trike. I had a bad feeling about those brakes. It's as if there were no ABS as I did not feel the usual shudder on the brakes as with a bimmer. I would not trust nor test its brakes again at high speed. I just thought that good brakes are really important and that it could have changed the course of things if ABS is good and sound, and we are not shy to use it when really needed, like really step hard on it.

[theveed]

Based on the topic lang... Parang andami ngang full frontal crashes ang Mzda3 na di nagdedeploy ang airbag, based on the 2 pics posted, dapat nagdeploy na yan, I'm not speaking from "kwento ni ganyan at ganito" I've personally seen my friend's 3000GT, 318i, Ford Probe na bumangga with less impact than those sa pics and nagdeploy sya.

M2: The rules never said anything that you can't sit with your legs crossed, walang kinalaman yun sa pag deploy ng airbag, as long as the sensors are tripped sa harap, they should deploy. Some cars have sensors sa upuan that senses an empty seat and di magdedeploy yung passenger side, but if may nakaupo, kahit naka squat sya na parang nasa trono dapat dedeploy padin yan.

Seatbelts effectivity are dictated by its position, as long as the shoulder and hip belts are properly seated, it wouldn't matter if you have legs or not, it should lock.

[BlueBimmer]

the pic i linked from mazda3driver must have had its sensors broken off, just look at the damage parang natanggal na ung buong harap e..unless the sensors are located at the back of the engine or on the firewall or something

[CoDer]

Based on the topic lang... Parang andami ngang full frontal crashes ang Mzda3 na di nagdedeploy ang airbag, based on the 2 pics posted, dapat nagdeploy na yan, I'm not speaking from "kwento ni ganyan at ganito" I've personally seen my friend's 3000GT, 318i, Ford Probe na bumangga with less impact than those sa pics and nagdeploy sya.

Yep... airbag should have deployed at 60KPH.

[mazdamazda]

M2: The rules never said anything that you can't sit with your legs crossed, walang kinalaman yun sa pag deploy ng airbag, as long as the sensors are tripped sa harap, they should deploy. Some cars have sensors sa upuan that senses an empty seat and di magdedeploy yung passenger side, but if may nakaupo, kahit naka squat sya na parang nasa trono dapat dedeploy padin yan.

Seatbelts effectivity are dictated by its position, as long as the shoulder and hip belts are properly seated, it wouldn't matter if you have legs or not, it should lock.

theveed...

am not referring to the effectivity of the airbag relative to the sitting position.

what am pointing at is the effectivity of the seatbelt relative to the sitting position.

as mazda3driver have pointed out, his wife has been sitting cross-legged... in that case, the lap/hip belt would have not been properly placed and thereby would have rendered the seatbelt ineffective - hence the reason why his wife suffered more serious injuries.

is that a tinted windshield i see? tsk tsk.

good observation... that's why US laws prohibit the placement of dark-tints in the front windshield.

[mackieboy]

tsk tsk tsk...
kasama ba sa PMS ang airbag check? or possible ba to check airbags?
ma discuss nga yan sa mga members..

[mazda3driver]

theveed...

am not referring to the effectivity of the airbag relative to the sitting position.

what am pointing at is the effectivity of the seatbelt relative to the sitting position.

as mazda3driver have pointed out, his wife has been sitting cross-legged... in that case, the lap/hip belt would have not been properly placed and thereby would have rendered the seatbelt ineffective - hence the reason why his wife suffered more serious injuries.



good observation... that's why US laws prohibit the placement of dark-tints in the front windshield.

that brings me back to my point, if her seating position did make the seatbelt less effective then we definitely needed those air bags.

Yup the full tints come free with the car. When they asked about putting the tints, I just said yeah. Never had a problem driving w/ them since 2004 but I guess I should have changed those tints from the time I got the car. I'm not scapegoating here. I know I should have been driving more carefully and maybe MMDA should have not put concrete dividers like those but again, accidents happen and air bags would have been helpful.

[Alpha_One]

that brings me back to my point, if her seating position did make the seatbelt less effective then we definitely needed those air bags.

Yup the full tints come free with the car. When they asked about putting the tints, I just said yeah. Never had a problem driving w/ them since 2004 but I guess I should have changed those tints from the time I got the car. I'm not scapegoating here. I know I should have been driving more carefully and maybe MMDA should have not put concrete dividers like those but again, accidents happen and air bags would have been helpful.

I'm terribly sorry about your accident, but I don't think the airbags would have saved your wife from injuries. First of all, the airbag system has no way of figuring out if your wife was crosslegged while carrying a dog. Second, your wife was in an improper position, which defeats the purpose of all the "protection" anyway. I doubt the airbags would have been of much help, consider yourself lucky you weren't killed.

To put it into perspective, my aunt has written off an AE92 and an Isuzu Fuego pickup truck in similar accidents (to be more specific, she hit telephone poles both times). Neither car had airbags, but she walked away with similar injuries.

I'd say the car did its job. Now, whether the car did its job well enough for you I can't say anything about that. I know how you feel, but in car crashes, I'd expect the worst.