Discharge in Auto Accident

Jimbo80 said:

Cowboy I'm doing the driving.

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Fair enough. Lol. Maybe why I have a shop.

I did better than my sister though. Dad bought her a Nova for her first car. She totaled it less than 6 miles away. We also have some of the sorriest roads in the USA. I once bottomed out a highboy with 35 inch tires.....on a state road

Pretensioners aren't so bad IMO. What irks me is when a low speed crash deploys the airbag but didn't hurt the car. The airbags themselves then burst the steering wheel. Bust the dash. Bust the side curtains. They fly up and bust the windshield.... fly down and bust the windows.. burn up the clocksprings.....lol. Almost a self destruct sequence. Some cars do well over 10k in damage just if the airbags deploy sitting in a parking lot.

Thanks for the update.

The safety systems in modern cars allow people to walk away unscathed from accidents that would have resulted in lost life or crippling for life injuries in those huge jalopies from the 60s and 70s much less the tanks from the 40s and 50s.

I still remember all the adrenaline rushes driving those tanks from the '50s. Come flying around a turn on a country road only to see a farmer crossing his cows. Will this thing stop in time???? Or, all leaned over with one knee against the door, will it make it around the curve??? Todays cars are like race cars by comparison. Very nimble and able to stop when needed. And yes, much safer even if they are nearly impossible to work on without wiring diagrams, tech support and specialized diagnostic equipment.

+1 for one of the most interesting and educational threads I've seen in a long time.

There are also active hood and bumper safety devices. In the event of imminent collision with a pedestrian the bumper will extend forward a little, via similar pyro devices, as well as the rear of the hood extend upward to create space or crumple zones to absorb impact. Air bags will also be installed around the outside of the windshield. All kinds of fun diagnosing those systems.

AMraider said:

There are also active hood and bumper safety devices. In the event of imminent collision with a pedestrian the bumper will extend forward a little, via similar pyro devices, as well as the rear of the hood extend upward to create space or crumple zones to absorb impact. Air bags will also be installed around the outside of the windshield. All kinds of fun diagnosing those systems.

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I'm so glad I'm retired from all that. A tech has to be pretty smart with today's cars.

I learned something today.
I also had no idea that seat belt tensioners existed.

Glad yall are ok.

As an engineer working with Safety restraints, it is good to see such a great interest in them. I thought I should add a bit of knowledge about the latest developments in the restraints world.
Earlier in the thread it was stated that the restraints could deply at low speed with only minor damages on the car. That was probably an older car that had older types of sensors based on intrusion in the bumpers. This could cause the airbags to go off with only minor dents on the bumper. Newer cars use more advanced sensors. Depending on the speed and deceleration of the car, the sensors and the computers decide if the restraints should deploy. A typical delay between the start of the crash before the restraints deploy are only 10-15 milliseconds and the time it takes for the airbags to fully inflate is only 20-40 ms depending on the size of them.
Since I guess most of you who are reading this are Americans, I would like to emphasize that the belts are the primary safety system and the airbags are the secondary. Therefore it is important to always use the belts since relying on only the airbags will not be as safe.

The above is also a good reminder for giving a thought to how one's gear is stowed in the back of their ride, too.
I've always had something of a habit to stow pistols in footwells, either passenger seat or rear seats, on range trips. Ditto for metal ammo boxes. 5 Gs is nothing to sneeze at.

This has been an informative post. Thank you.