RE: Seatbelts, airbags and helmets

From: Zachary Burcham (roadking_dakota@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jun 09 2004 - 08:49:09 EDT


The sensor thing can be quite scary too. I know a guy who is a firefighter
and he saw an accident with a late model ram (94-0?) where a guy hit a
telephone pole head-on at 55 mph. Just off center I think, it was between
two sensors and therefore, no airbags. I think the guy survived but they
were really surprised there wasn't deployment. Also, my Aunt's 1.5 week old
trailblazer got totalled out a few weeks ago when while pulling a trailer
the trailer jack knifed and turned 90 degrees on the ball and the front end
of the blazer ended up under a semi with the whole passenger side front
corner getting chewed to bits, no airbag probably due to lack of a real
impact. Probably helped them out then, not so for the ram.

>Thank God you were ok. I'm not positive on this, but I believe there are 2
>or possibly 3 sensors in the front. If you're hit between them, the
>airbags
>won't deploy. Someone out there must know the correct specs on this. I
>know that I sure don't.

I have met an airbag one on one before and I'll say in my situation, it
sucked. It was in my dad's 96 Geo Metro, we T-boned a car doing about 40-45
mph. I was about 14 at the time and it turned a minor accident into a pain
in the rear for me. My dad and brother(in back seat) came out with little
or no injuries. I had a broken nose, sever lacerations on the inside of my
lip (had braces at time) and the fun stuff, chemical/friction burns over
about 1/3 of my face on the right side. I could bearly talk and couldn't
open my mouth much more than a crack for a few days. All of those injuries
were due to the airbag. Even with the new stuff they've done with them, I
still am glad my 92 dakota doesn't have airbags. Not fond of them at all, I
don't think they are all bad, but they needed to do a lot more R&D on them
before they started throwing them in cars.

">I just have this fear of airbags. I don't know if it's rational, but I
also picture
>being smothered by it. My fears are probably completely unjustified, but I
>guess if you don't really see one in action, you don't know what to
>expect... and that's when a person's own mental images (mine) take over.

>Norah Bleazard"

On the motorcycle thing a lot of states have helmet laws in place. Helmets
save lives, period. I have a family friend who's brother died less than a
mile from his house when he hit his head on a curb. The "accident" happened
when pulling away from a traffic light his rear tire his oil and at less
than 10 mph the bike fell over. It cracked his skull and killed him. Less
than 10 mph. But i will say this, the single biggest thing that endangers
motorcycles is regular motorists lack of respect for them and lack of
vigilance in looking to make sure they look for them. I bet nearly 75%+ of
motorcycle fatality stories involve a car pulling out on the bike. So while
helmet laws are great, serious education for the normal guy would save many
more lives.

Zach Burcham

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