Air Bags didn't deploy in daughters wreck

[Johann]

I'm wondering why the air bags didn't deploy.
This is a Mazda 3i 2007.
My daughter was stopped at a light and a drunk driver in a 1 ton older Ford pick-up smashed into her.
The drunk was in the wrong lane going in the wrong direction.
He would have broad-sided her but he swerved just in time and fishtailed the truck ripping the front off the Mazda with his rear bumper.
It was a hit-and-run but the police found him 2 hours later.
She walked away with out a scratch but the car was totaled.
The salesman took the photo of her the day we bought her car.

 

[flipmz3drvr]

so I take it the impact was on the LF corner then went across the face of the car toward the passenger side? Possibly with the way the accident happened... it may have ripped the sensors from the wires and that's why the airbags didn't deploy.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

cute kid, airbags likely didn't deploy because it looks like it was a swipe, not a frontal or side impact. The car probably didn't 'decide' airbags were necessary. I'd say the fact that she walked away without a scratch says the car made the right decision. Good thing too, she looks pretty cute! LOL

 

[JReichle1]

Airbag systems are extremely complicated. It all depends on the angle of the impact and the force on the crumple zone. If it mostly damaged the front but did not really push in the radiator and supports the impact sensor might not get a sufficient enough impact to deploy. It may also have to do with the fact that her car was stationary and the computer sees 0mph and takes that into account as well. The only person who can truly awnser your question is the guy who designed the srs system for the Mazda 3. Good luck getting him on the phone...

 

[Johann]

so I take it the impact was on the LF corner then went across the face of the car toward the passenger side? Possibly with the way the accident happened...

That's my observation as well.
Had the truck t-boned the Mazda's drivers side I don't think she would have walked away from the accident considering that the '07 models didn't have side impact air bags.
I would just like some idea of how much damage has to occur for the air bags to decide when it's time to protect the passengers.

Three years ago, my wife t-boned a Chevy Caviler with her Tahoe going about 40 mpg. Again, both cars totaled and no air bag deployment in either car.
She had right of way, the other driver was issued a citation.

 

[fateexceeds]

I would just like some idea of how much damage has to occur for the air bags to decide when it's time to protect the passengers.

It's all about the speed and angle of impact. A similar incident happened to me - I totalled my '99 Protege in a front impact (spun out on black ice and hit a tractor trailer in the other lane), and the airbags didn't deploy. I don't know the exact numbers for the 3, but I know from doing research on the Protege that the airbags won't deploy below a certain speed and if the impact isn't within a certain range of angles.

 

[SRH_3GT]

My airbags never went of in my '97 Ford Taurus SHO V8:

The reason they did not go off, back in 2001, is that Ford only had one sensor on those cars in those days, The sensor was located:

in the center of the front bumpers behind the Ford badge. My SHO was never hit from the front. It has hit from the passenger rear side and pushed all the way forward to the passenger front and to the right of the steering wheel.

 

[JDM-P5]

Johann, thank God your most precious commodity (your daughter) is safe. Thankfully, cars are replaceable.
I hope this is a testament to stick w/Mazda. The 3 seemed to do the job well!
Another Mazda3?

 

[AWmustang]

My airbags never went of in my '97 Ford Taurus SHO V8:

The reason they did not go off, back in 2001, is that Ford only had one sensor on those cars in those days, The sensor was located:

in the center of the front bumpers behind the Ford badge. My SHO was never hit from the front. It has hit from the passenger rear side and pushed all the way forward to the passenger front and to the right of the steering wheel.

In that sort of accident I wouldn't expect the front airbags of any car to go off. The airbag in your steering wheel is to keep you from hitting the steering wheel. When are you going to hit the steering wheel? A very strong deceleration while moving forward or a very strong acceleration in reverse.

As for the OP, same answer. If she didn't hit her head on the steering wheel, then the car made the correct decision in not using the airbags. And that decision is based on very complex algorithms dealing with information from a bunch of sensors all over the car.

 

[SRH_3GT]

In that sort of accident I wouldn't expect the front airbags of any car to go off. The airbag in your steering wheel is to keep you from hitting the steering wheel. When are you going to hit the steering wheel? A very strong deceleration while moving forward or a very strong acceleration in reverse.

I do not, and never will, remember the wreck. I was in a coma for 3 weeks. 2+ major trauma surgeries. You name it; it might have been done on me. I can no longer smell or taste. Front what I was advised, my head was against the B Pillar in the SHO. The Driver Side seat collapsed back. (stooges) I guess that is what happened to my head. lol

 

[_Chris]

I do not, and never will, remember the wreck. I was in a coma for 3 weeks. 2+ major trauma surgeries. You name it; it might have been done on me. I can no longer smell or taste. Front what I was advised, my head was against the B Pillar in the SHO. The Driver Side seat collapsed back. (stooges) I guess that is what happened to my head. lol

from the looks of that car. No amount of air bags would have saved you any injury. Air bags only work under predetermined movements and angels of the car/impact. All of this data can be pulled from the car after the accident if your have a manufacture scan tool.

When working for a car rental company we had a number of people try and sue us or the car manufacture saying that the air bags should have gone off. Funny part is most of them did not get hurt in the accident, They were just trying to say we were renting unsafe cars.

 

[SRH_3GT]

from the looks of that car. No amount of air bags would have saved you any injury. Air bags only work under predetermined movements and angels of the car/impact. All of this data can be pulled from the car after the accident if your have a manufacture scan tool.

When working for a car rental company we had a number of people try and sue us or the car manufacture saying that the air bags should have gone off. Funny part is most of them did not get hurt in the accident, They were just trying to say we were renting unsafe cars.

Oh. I do not blame the air bag. From seeing the pictures, I know the accident did not hit anywhere CLOSE to when the sensor(s) are located at.