When a crash survivor walked into his car showroom to complain about the airbag that failed to open in his SUV, the first question he was asked was, “Did you wear the seatbelt when driving?” When the customer replied in the negative, the dealer explained the airbag would open only if the seatbelt is worn. According to experts, many are not aware that in some cars the airbags — the ones in front of the driver as well as the co-passenger — would open only if the seatbelt is worn. “Airbags will not activate if seatbelts are not fastened,” said Graeme McRaith, Service Operations Manager, Zawawi Trading Co. LLC, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz.
Airbags, when they activate, are violent in nature. They are inflated by a pyrotechnical charge that has a force similar to a small explosive device. They should get inflated within milliseconds to prevent a driver or passenger from colliding with the windscreen or steering wheel. “Airbags work in conjunction with forward, sideward movement sensor and steering wheel position sensors. The sensors detect how fast the car is decelerating and in which direction the car is moving when it decelerates. They detect if the car is moving from the horizontal position to one that shows the car may be about to roll over,” he added. Depending on these calculations, the main airbag computer will decide which airbags to activate. A front head-on impact will activate the front airbags at the steering wheel or dashboard. If the vehicle is about to roll over, the airbags in the roof will open.
In the event of a crash, if the driver has not fastened his seatbelt and is thrown on to the steering wheel airbag which is activating, he would not survive the crash. This is the reason the seatbelts must be fastened to complete the safety system circuit. However, it should be noted that an airbag may sometimes not open in case of an accident as it is dependent on sensors. In that case, wearing the seatbelt is the best protection. A chief mechanic with a leading car agency in Oman said that in many models in the high-end range of vehicles, both airbags inflate at the same time. “But if a collision is at the threshold, the sensors will determine whether or not airbags will deploy; it is possible for only one airbag to open.” The reports also said airbags and seatbelts are just a “small part in the vehicle safety system”.
KABEER YOUSUF
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