What is the point of air bags? I wonder if it’s the same deal as seat belts. You know you are supposed to wear them because if in a certain given exact situation, wearing it could save your life. BUT in another entirely different situation it could be the cause of death as well. Why is it a law to make an individual wear a seat belt when in fact, it could be more harmful that not. Shouldn’t it be up to the individual? Is this another case of too much government involvement?
I didn’t mean to get on a soapbox about seat-belt wearing. Which, by the way, I do out of habit although I figure if I ever get in a car accident it will be the one instance where I would probably be better off not having it on.
Nope, this post is about air bags. Did you know that if you get in an accident and the air bag is deployed you MUST replace it? Not even a choice. It’s required. Yes, I do believe air bags saves lives. But we have also found out that they can cause more damage than not too. If the person is too short, underweight, etc, etc.
But what is the air bag doesn’t even go off? How protected are you if it does not even deploy? Not at all.
Rewind a little over ten years ago when I had more first, and only, accident. A little old lady that could barely see over the steering wheel ran right thru a stop sign and hit me. Luckily, I saw what was happening in time to hit the breaks and avoid most of the impact. The only injury I sustained was my thumb which got disjointed (is that even a technical term?) when the airbag went off and the cover bent the thumb back. I guess the way I was gripping the steering wheel and bracing myself, I had my thumbs outward which meant they were over the cover.
Not back to the present. My daughter was in a car accident with her Hyundai Elantra last fall. It was basically a front end collision. No damage except directly head on which also caused the hood to bend up.

Clearly hit head on. Now wouldn’t you think the air bag should deploy? Especially since the speed was enough that when the impact happened, she was thrown forward enough that her shoulder was injured from being jerked back by the seat belt. (hmmmm) If the air bag had gone off, she would’ve just been kept back in her seat by it and not have been injured at all. She was in therapy for her shoulder and back for a few months.
But nope — the air bag did not go off. And once you start talking about this kind of thing you find others. In fact another girl in our church had a head on collision the very next month. In her case the passenger’s air bag deployed but hers did not. She suffered a lot more injuries.
So I did what every concerned mother would do when her daughter had been injured by obviously a fault of Hyundai - I called them. And they did an investigation. It appeared legit even though it took about three times longer than they initially told me it would take.
But I found out today in a letter that they were not at fault and the air bag should not have deployed.
WHAT???!!!
So..let me understand. Air bags are put in cars as a safety device. Although they are pretty much standard in cars today, you still pay extra to have this “safety” assurance. If you are in an accident and lucky enough for it to deploy (like luck playing roulette), you must also pay to have another one installed in the off chance that if you get in another accident it may or may not deploy.
But at what exact perfect set of circumstance determines whether it will deploy or not?
Speed? hmmmm, don’t think so.
Direction of impact? Well, if head-on doesn’t cause the air bag to deploy, apparently nothing will.
(not getting off my soapbox but sitting down to take a breather now…..)