# Air Bag Failure **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226 "2015-03-07T01:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UncleTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9a140/32.png) [@UncleTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UncleTurbo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/21 "2015-03-09T17:24:36Z")
In a crash an unbelted “dummy” is thrown around inside the cabin like a rag doll. There isn’t just one impact, but several. Airbags deploy and then collapse very quickly. A deployed airbag might help in one impact, but not several over a couple of seconds. The force of an airbag that deploys with an unrestrained dummy essentially right on top of it will do significant damage to that dummy. The force of the blast is like a shotgun blast, and then the dummy becomes a projectile thrown backward at the seat. The whiplash on the spine and neck is dramatic. Believe what you want, and airbag technology has and continues to improve - but seat belts are still critical to surviving a crash, especially a rollover one. Most, and possibly all, cars have sensors in the front passenger seat that detect if there is a passenger in the seat. The airbag programming to go off or not involves many factors. The car knows there is a driver, and it knows if there is a passenger in the front seat, and I won’t be surprised if newer cars know whether or not there are passengers in the rear seat(s) too. The car also knows if the passengers in the cabin have put their seat belts on or not. ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/22 "2015-03-09T19:27:51Z")
My wife has doctor’s orders to disable her air bags. One solid shot to the face and she could be blind ! So, yeah, air bags can injure in their own right, especially with any sideways momentum during the crash. If the air bag slams your head in an opposing direction ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/23 "2015-03-09T19:42:28Z")
Yes, indeed airbags can cause death to the occupants. It is rare these days but has and does occur. [emj.bmj.com/content/17/2/139.full](http://emj.bmj.com/content/17/2/139.full) ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/24 "2015-03-09T23:35:57Z")
@kengreen Yes, if you are very short you can get the airbag disabled legally. My previous neighbor was just under 5 feet, and she had the airbag in her Honda CRV disconnected. The passenger airbag had to stay active, however. ---
**Author:** ![MG-McAnick](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mg-mcanick/32/188_2.png) [@MG-McAnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MG-McAnick)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 7:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/25 "2015-03-10T07:24:53Z")
@Mustangman, please note that your link is from 1999 and the UK. Second generation airbags were only beginning to show up in American cars at that time. I do not know about UK airbags of that era. Also note that it plainly states that, in at least the one example shown, the seat belt was also in use. ---
**Author:** ![meanjoe75fan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meanjoe75fan/32/552_2.png) [@meanjoe75fan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meanjoe75fan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/26 "2015-03-10T23:26:22Z")
The pne question I have always wondered re: airbags, is in the event of a missing/inop airbag, is the “seatbelt only” setup as safe as it would be in a car without airbags at all? I mean, it’s possible they design the seatbelt with more “give,” understanding that, in a worst-case-scenario, you’d have the airbag helping out. Frankly, I’d just as soon have a good 4-point or 5-point and forgo the airbag altogether…if an airbag was the _ne plus ultra_ for collisions, you’d expect those who collide often (racers) to use 'em…and they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/27 "2015-03-10T23:36:27Z")
Very few people would abide being clamped into the seat like a race car driver. ---
**Author:** ![meanjoe75fan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meanjoe75fan/32/552_2.png) [@meanjoe75fan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meanjoe75fan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/28 "2015-03-10T23:50:55Z")
They make 4-points and 5-points with inertial-reels. I flew belted into them, and it was no less comfortable than a standard 3-point: moreso, really, because you could selectively unlatch the shoulder restraints at will. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226/29 "2015-03-11T04:49:14Z")
@meanjoe75fan The answer is yes I’d rather be driving a Taurus with non-functioning airbags, versus a Ford Granada [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/air-bag-failure/89226.md?page=1)