Airbags didn't deploy

[jetfuel]

page 109

....side trigger sensors in the left and right inner sills near the B pillars for detecting a side impact...

jetfuel

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by RedDogInCan

Acceleration and deceleration is the same thing

They are. Change in speed, relative. You could call deceleration negative acceleration. Still, the same.

In any case, airbags do not protect from rollovers because they inflate and deflate almost instantaneously.

Good point!

Given that a smart is 20.3 feet in diameter

Huh??? Wow, I knew it was bigger inside than outside, but that's ridiculous, LOL I'm guessing you meant circumference. I won't do the math.

I think damage to the interior panels is a minor consideration in this case.

No doubt!

[jetfuel]

...the question still remains...Why no side air bags?
...let the lawyering begin...
...going back to the tech manual...
jetfuel

[Bum-bling-B]

Glad to hear she is OK - and THANK YOU for sharing the story/pictures with us.

I have a feeling the insurance people are going to see if the airbags really needed to deploy or if they were designed to deploy in an accident like that meaning taking a hit from that angle.

[mdfortwoguy]

Originally Posted by jetfuel

...the question still remains...Why no side air bags?
...let the lawyering begin...
...going back to the tech manual...
jetfuel

There really is no question... the forces on the car at the point of impact would have been centrifugal and would most likely not have tripped the threshold of deployment. A lawyer isn't going to be able to do a damn thing in this situation - the car did what it needed to do and is operating as designed.

One cannot look at a car and say whether or not the bags should have deployed. If the bags had deployed, it would have recorded post-deployment information in the DERM that could be examined - but even then, it's not going to tell you anything except what events triggered the system and if any errors occurred in the deployment process.

I would be curious to know if the belt pretensioners fired in the above accident, however.

[Macaw]

Impact was on drivers side and if no passenger, passenger seat airbags are deactivated. So no reason for drivers side bag to deploy.. just my 2-cents

[mdfortwoguy]

Originally Posted by RedDogInCan

Acceleration and deceleration is the same thing, its just a matter of the frame of reference.

Correct... and in this instance, it made more sense to use deceleration instead of using negative acceleration.

I think damage to the interior panels is a minor consideration in this case.

Agreed, I was speaking in general, however. On more than one occasion, I have seen a car totalled because of the collateral damage caused by the (potentially unneeded) deployment of airbags.

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by mdfortwoguy

There really is no question... the forces on the car at the point of impact would have been centrifugal

Nevermind the fact that centrifugal force doesn't exist.

[jetfuel]

MD...don't know if I can agree with you...
...sensor should have deployed the side air bag...
...while looking at the side view picture of the OP I see something that's hanging right in front of the rear wheel that looks like if it is suspended by two wires...hummm
comparing the two car damage it seem like they are similar.
It will take some time and the data to really understand what went on...

jeyfuel

[jetfuel]

Originally Posted by mdfortwoguy

.

I would be curious to know if the belt pretensioners fired in the above accident, however.

...very good point...

jetfuel