Day started off good

[Drache]

The last picture shows the ass end of the F350 that we hit. The 60 year old lady was stopped on the highway to avoid an accident of her own.

If you look closely, you can see pieces of the car stuck just under bumper.

[BBS]

is scary ramming into trucks, go faster and you can lose your head. well i guess someone has to ask, are your airsoft equipment alright?

[Drache]

Originally Posted by BBS

is scary ramming into trucks, go faster and you can lose your head. well i guess someone has to ask, are your airsoft equipment alright?

Yeah everything was in the trunk and survived without a scratch.

[Danke]

Airbags can be an issue, sometimes they don't go back it, sometimes other corners are cut. I would not let that car fall into the hands of the dealership that sold it, or anyone else associated with them untill the failure to deploy is sorted.

http://news.carjunky.com/voiding_the_warranty.shtml

[spacemoose]

Originally Posted by BBS

ouch...that was a scary accident. what did you hit to cause the hood to fold up, while the front bumper didn't get crushed? Perhaps its because your main impact was near the hood and not the front crumple zones, hence the sensors didn't go off? *i'm just speculating*

Any auto techs in the audience? Correct me if im wrong.

Ford will give you the standard runaround on this one.

See, your car was (for the lack of a better word) fortunate to pretty much slide underneath the bed of the F350 ( I assume, mind you). Had you hit a smaller vehicle, or a truck that has a bed a bit lower to the ground, your airbags would definetly had gone off.

Now, the crash sensor on most vehicles sits right front center, just above the top of the bumper. Heres a photo of a sensor from a Mazda 3 (ripped off Google images.)



The Ford you were in was just the right size for for crash sensor to miss being tripped, thus deploying the airbags. It looks like from the photos that the majority of the damage is to the top of the hood, wheras there is limited bumper damage. Not nearly enough direct impact to the bumper to trip the airbag/crash sensor.

Now, you may ask, what factors go into setting off an airbag?

First, the laws of motion come into play. Your car, and ultimately you the driver/passenger have a lot of momentum that needs to be brought down to nothing when you get into an accident.

Essentially, your airbag sensor monitors deceleration at the point of impact on the crash sensor and makes a split second calculation (20 to 30 milliseconds that is) and if the vehicle is over the threshold speed of 15 KMH it then deploys the bag which inflate, and deflate in under half a second.

Now, why 15 kmh? Striking a solid barrier at 15kmh and striking a parked car at 45kmh are the same thing.

Why? Well, a solid barrier will not absorb much impact. The force of the impact will be transferred to the vehicle and then the driver whereas, a parked car will absorb much more of the impact from the pushing that is induced from collision.


So your friend should be prepared for disappointment in this instance. The circumstances were not "ideal" (lack of a better word) for deployment.

(with some ripping off from wikipedia)

[Drache]

If the senor was classified as a g-force sensor, a direct hit on the sensor is not needed. This was a 2004 ford focus, not the 2002 I had thought earlier.

[Drache]

Well a mechanic friend told me it is 90% a g-force sensor, he copied this from a 2004 Focus repair manual:

Remove the radiator right-hand support bracket retaining bolts and lower the right-hand side of the radiator.

Remove the radiator air deflector.

Detach the crash sensor from the radiator grille opening panel.

Remove the crash sensor.

Disconnect the crash sensor electrical connector.

[fireman182]

I see my share of car crashes (they are RARELY accidents, as most can be avoided by proper driving....unless the obvious circumstances) and air bags fail fairly often. As do ABS brakes. Alot of people put alot of faith in those 2 safety features. This isnt out of the ordinary.

The average car today has 6 airbags, and luxury cars can have up to 12. Sometimes, for some reason, the airbags will deploy after the crash. Other have a secondary explosion. Interesting fact, you will never remember the bag going off if you are in a car crash.

The more technology the more room for failure IMO

[Drache]

Yeah the fireman first on the scene disconnected the airbags and told us not to go into the car for 30 minutes as they can hold a charge up to that long after the accident.

Talked to Ford and they are seriously looking into who did the work on the airbags....

[Mapcinq]

Originally Posted by fireman182

I see my share of car crashes (they are RARELY accidents, as most can be avoided by proper driving....unless the obvious circumstances) and air bags fail fairly often. As do ABS brakes. Alot of people put alot of faith in those 2 safety features. This isnt out of the ordinary.

The average car today has 6 airbags, and luxury cars can have up to 12. Sometimes, for some reason, the airbags will deploy after the crash. Other have a secondary explosion. Interesting fact, you will never remember the bag going off if you are in a car crash.

The more technology the more room for failure IMO

Yea, all of the crashes Ive been in were intentional.

[spacemoose]

Originally Posted by Drache

Talked to Ford and they are seriously looking into who did the work on the airbags....

O RLY?

Hopefully your car wasn't a victim of airbag theft.