Eric, I don't like bags 'cause I'm generally not too thrilled about having
explosives pointed at my chest.
Prior to 1997, airbags in the US were, despite a "supplemental" designation, by
*law* required to serve as the *sole* means of restraint of a 50th Percentile
Male (approx 5'11", 185 lbs), **UNbelted**, in a 31mph frontal collision with a
fixed barrier (roughly equivalent of a 60 mph head-on between two similar
cars). In 1997, after a small number of well-publicized injuries and,
tragically, a few deaths of small-statured women (usually elderly) and children
(who, almost universally, were either not restrained at all or were in
rear-facing seats that put their noggins right next to the explosive, and
several of which were *standing* in the front passenger footwell with their
heads basically ON the airbag), the Feds relaxed the rules and allowed
automakers to ship cars with bags to the Canadian/European standard, which
required them to restrain a *belted* 50th Percentile Male in a 31mph frontal
collision with a fixed barrier. This relaxation was temporary and meant only
until so-called "smart" bags could be developed sufficiently. The "smart" bags
are supposed have multi-stage inflation capability (typically, "multi" means
"two" stages) that take into account vehicle speed at impact, seat position,
seatbelt use, presence of a child seat (in some high-end models, at least, and
requires a special seat with a transponder on it), and, in some cases,
approximate mass of the person in the seat (this has the side benefit of NOT
popping the passenger bag when that seat is empty, thus saving repair costs).
If, say, the seat is forward, the belt is being worn, and it's a "moderate"
impact, then only the first stage lights off. If the belt is off, though, then
maybe both stages are lit.
Only in America can "consumer advocates" who have managed to get themselves
appointed head of NHTSA (I'm thinking of Ralph Nader's lead harpy, Joan
Claybrook, who was NHTSA chief under Carter) somehow write a regulation for a
supplemental system (and it says so right in the title and verbiage. Did you
ever wonder what "SRS" on the airbag cover means? "Supplemental Restraint
System") that has to act as the sole means of restraint.
Jim Crider
autojim@att.net
jamescrider@metaldyne.com
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