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[Content] Introduction The Air Bag System for Frontal Crashes What Happens After a Deployment? |
When Do Air Bags Deploy?
 ir bags are typically designed to deploy in frontal and near-frontal collisions, which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately 8 to 14 miles per hour (mph). Roughly speaking, a 14 mph barrier collision is equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size across the full front of each vehicle at about 28 mph. This is because the parked car absorbs some of the energy of the crash, and is pushed by the striking vehicle. Unlike crash tests into barriers, real-world crashes typically occur at angles, and the crash forces usually are not evenly distributed across the front of the vehicle. Consequently, the relative speed between a striking and struck vehicle required to deploy the air bag in a real-world crash can be much higher than an equivalent barrier crash. Because air bag sensors measure deceleration, vehicle speed and damage are not good indicators of whether or not an air bag should have deployed. Occasionally, air bags can deploy due to the vehicleÕs undercarriage violently striking a low object protruding above the roadway surface. Despite the lack of visible front-end damage, high deceleration forces may occur in this type of crash, resulting in the deployment of the air bag. Most air bags are designed to automatically deploy in the event of a vehicle fire when temperatures reach 300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This safety feature helps to ensure that such temperatures do not cause an explosion of the inflator unit within the air bag module. |
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