Mazda3 2005 Air Bags failed to open after frontal crash

[romanmojica]

Mazda3 2005 Air Bags failed to open after frontal crash

You can see the photo of our car crash:
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1734/11098416.fb9a95.jpg
http://org72.zorpia.com/0/1781/11404275.da02df.jpg

This incident happened in May 9, 2006 at EDSA Road, Metro Manila, Philippines.

11 days after the incident, representatives of Ford and Mazda Philippines met with us. Their investigation have concluded that we were not moving fast enough at impact to deploy the air bags.

Though our seatbelts kept us from getting thrown off, without the air bags, I hit the steering wheel while my wife hit the dashboard while clinging to our dog, who was still in her arms after the crash. My wife had her chin split open and had a bruised throat. I had stitches in the interior of my bottom lip, a bloody nose, a bruised forehead.

Incidentally, Mazda then gave us the car estimate of the damage and said that the damage was enough to declare it a total wreck.

They let our insurance handle all damages and hospital bills. They also denied our request for a temporary car.

 

[TheMAN]

how fast were you going when you crashed? the airbag should've went off as the sensor is in the middle of the front of the car (behind the grille)! the 3 DID get an airbag sensor recall for the 2004 models in the US... the whole airbag design is ford s***, built by bosch... so it's s***

other than that, I'm not surprised that the front end got destroyed like that as you have a non-US bumper which does not have the reinforcements like ours... I don't think you have seat belt ALRs either

 

[keleko]

i thought airbags were designed to go off at anything more than 15mph

and it would sure as hell take more than 15mph to make that kind of damage

too bad this is in phillipines, or you could make an assload of money off this in the states
good thing you were wearing seatbelts though!

 

[wicked]

I smell a big lawsuit.

 

[wicked]

yeah,you must have been doing atleast 30,and thats fast enough to be fatal.

you need to talk to a lawyer.

 

[fam]

Hopefully someone from mazda checks this forum out and gives you a new mazdaspeed3 before this turns out to be a very costly lawsuit.

 

[II-Savy]

Never hold your dog in the front seat....ever. If I take my dog anywhere she goes in the front seat alone and I put the seat belt on her. Your lucky you didn't loose your dog.

oh yea, you have a lawsuit there.

 

[Zano]

Wow glad to hear you guys made it out ok. I own and 2005 3s and it seems I'll have to be a bit more thourough in my operation checks.

 

[TheMAN]

your car was built by ford... so some parts may not be exactly the same as what we get here in the US or Europe.... ours is built by Mazda themselves in japan

the ECE bumper reinforcement (what you have) is just a piece of thing fiber glass with a box frame at the ends which bolts onto the car... it can ONLY absorb impacts that are full width (from a car or another flat surface such as a wall), and CANNOT sustain crashes in ONLY the middle

it IS possible to upgrade to the DOT (US spec) bumper reinforcement when you repair your car, it is a box shaped piece of steel that runs the length of the bumper, and is bolted into the car in also a box frame... it is very ridgid and can sustain heavy impacts... for low speed protections, it is covered with a thick piece of styrofoam

the 3's bumper cover is designed to be the same throughout the world... so fitting the USDM reinforcement shouldn't be a big problem compared to other cars which usually have longer US bumpers than the non-US counterparts

 

[goldwing2000]

it IS possible to upgrade to the DOT (US spec) bumper reinforcement when you repair your car...

It's not going to be repaired.

Incidentally, Mazda then gave us the car estimate of the damage and said that the damage was enough to declare it a total wreck.

If that barrier is buried as far into the car as it appears to be, it sure as hell looks like it was enough of an impact to discharge the air bags. Keep us posted on what your lawyer says.

 

[-pixy-]

while clinging to our dog, who was still in her arms after the crash.

it would not have been possible for your wife to have held on to the dog if you were traveling fast enough to make the airbags deploy.

 

[ghettobubba2001]

i was in a 30 mph accident.... and my airbags didnt go off but im rather glad they didnt that woulda hurt if they FLEW OUT at me.

 

[VA03Speed]

Those Airbags Should Have Deployed With The Look Of That Impact.

 

[Blitzd]

does anyone else see it as odd that the driver is just chillin in the seat still and that this person had never posted here before this. Sounds fishy, not Phisy, just fishy...

 

[ZoomVT]

oh man. ouch.
thats scary. hopefully you can take them to the cleaners.

 

[Lt. Dan]

I don't think you'd win a lawsuit. You would have suffered similiar injuries if the airbag had gone off, and probably would have a dead dog to boot... The airbags are designed to go off when they sense a certain amount of DECELRATION, not an impact. It looks like the crunch zone did it's job, saving you and your wife.... Now if this had been a U.S. spec car, the airbags probably would have deployed... the beam would have offered a lot more resistance, increasing the g-forces...

Dan

 

[orphman]

it would not have been possible for your wife to have held on to the dog if you were traveling fast enough to make the airbags deploy.

you got it... unless it was a "toy" breed" then its possible...


about the recall... if there was a recall and you didnt get it fixed.. your at fault/ not a fault but ... its on you...

if there was no recall and there were alot of probs then you'd have a tree to bark up.... sucks that it happend... glad your ok...

 

[wicked]

I don't think you'd win a lawsuit. You would have suffered similiar injuries if the airbag had gone off, and probably would have a dead dog to boot... The airbags are designed to go off when they sense a certain amount of DECELRATION, not an impact. It looks like the crunch zone did it's job, saving you and your wife.... Now if this had been a U.S. spec car, the airbags probably would have deployed... the beam would have offered a lot more resistance, increasing the g-forces...

Dan

air bag sensors are not desiged to " sense" anything,it's not a sensor it's a simple switch.

you have a magnet holding a gold plated ball with current going through.when you crash the forces cause the ball to come off the magnet making an incomplete circuit. in order for the airbag to actually go off,you have to have a minimun of 2 of these switches go off simultaneously

 

[Lt. Dan]

air bag sensors are not desiged to " sense" anything,it's not a sensor it's a simple switch.

you have a magnet holding a gold plated ball with current going through.when you crash the forces cause the ball to come off the magnet making an incomplete circuit. in order for the airbag to actually go off,you have to have a minimun of 2 of these switches go off simultaneously

You say potato, I say Pohtaytoe.....

 

[Zano]

air bag sensors are not desiged to " sense" anything,it's not a sensor it's a simple switch.

you have a magnet holding a gold plated ball with current going through.when you crash the forces cause the ball to come off the magnet making an incomplete circuit. in order for the airbag to actually go off,you have to have a minimun of 2 of these switches go off simultaneously

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/airbag1.htm

According to this, it is a sensor, but you are correct; I have seen some cars where it is the two switches which deploy the air bag. Personally, I think the switch method is a little better, but does anyone know what is used on the 3?