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 Post subject: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:50 
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not to be confused with funbags :D

following on from a discussion on a trucker website, why dont trucks have airbags fitted? my guess based on logic rather than engineering expertise is that the angle of the steering wheel would mean the airbag would go off at a dangerous angle. in a car the steering wheel is pointing at your chest (ish) but in a truck it is pointing at your head or possibly even higher than that which would render it useless, if not dangerous.
however, as i said, i am not an engineer so i would welcome some opinions from more informed folks

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:09 
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baring in mind that some cars have 10 or more air bags, I cannot see why they could not come in from the side. The reality is there are no ncap ratings for trucks. Truck drivers are replaceable and cheaper than trucks. There is no law requireing them.There is no commercial decision to choose a truck with airbags compared with a truck that is cheaper to run.They travel slower and usually need a collision with another truck or a tree to be of any advantage. when they collide with a smaller oblect they do not decellerate like a car does.

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 13:53 
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yup many passenger airbags probably come from about the same angle as a truck bag.... and side / curtain airbags are engineered to come out of the A / B pillars..... roof.... side of the seat.... so i expect there's no good engineering reason not to do it.

commercial & market considerations are very different as anton mentiones.

i wonder if the safety benefit is actually as great in a truck as compared with cars,
i.e. what are the accident stats / KSI like for trucks ? per mile driven or per population of truck drivers ... ?
[edited to add: ah i think i was thinking of what anton's last sentence mentions there too]


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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 13:57 
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i have 4 in my car and if i thought there would be a weight advantage, i would have them removed. i dont like them!
however, in a truck, your points are valid. hitting a smaller (more likely) object would not require and airbag as you correctly pointed out. a truck wouldnt stop dead like a car would.
hitting another truck would also prove pointless for the same reason. an airbag would not prevent a fatality since another truck wont move like a car does either.

cheers :bighand:

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 18:15 
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Aaaaah. Safety airbags.

Trucks have Airbags for suspension !!


Seriously though ( I'm sure I mentioned this somewhere) it's a bit like the truck seatbelts argument.

If you hit a car.... It wont matter

If you hit a truck......

It wont matter

For anything else... It's unlikely to matter as well.

Also... The amount of people, women in particular, that sit with their noses squashed against the windshield... If an airbag were to deploy it would probably kill them whereas the accident wouldn't have.

Perhaps "Slouching" lessons at the wheel should be made a compulsory part of the test !!

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 03:40 
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Course not crashing is even better ! :)

Is this query stemming from a recent specific experience - good or bad ?
I don't have air bags and I don't feel that I am in danger.
I am the best safety asset in/on my vehicle.

On the recent Thames Valley figures : http://www.saferroads.org Table 4 for recent figures they show

Annual Report
I can't find the stats on their site - that I have a copy of ....
quick ref :
2000 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
3.5 tonnes & under 524 - 479 - 555 - 485 - 493
>3.5t mgw & <7.5t mgw 187 - 122 - 123 - 141 - 119
7.5 t mgw & over 448 - 459 - 466 - 434 - 348
goods veh weight unknown 75 - 13 - 9 - 10 - 2

Some change but not that significantly different ... overall ... Plus the Gov has altered the roads to measure the traffic for the first time, thus altering the traffic comparisons by loosing consistency. :(

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 22:58 
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i think it was someone moaning about their truck Claire. if you ever come across a trucker who doesnt moan about their truck, check their pulse. we never stop moaning :D

this person seemed to think that we arent looked after because he drives a plastic truck which is not fitted with airbags (mercedes Axor is widely regarded as a cheap and nasty truck) but as we seem to have established, airbags would be pointless in a truck so maybe thats why no one fits them. contacting a couple of manufacturers might prove interesting though. just to see what they have to say about the subject

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 03:01 
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I’ve never had an airbag go off but I’ve heard people mention before the noise of them going off can damage your hearing.

A mate of mine crashed his car at low speeds, and said the only injury he had was tinnitus for a week afterwards, but if he hadn't had a airbag would have no injuries.

Don't some Volvo trucks have airbags ???

I'm sure i'm seen them in Volvos or maybe imagining it


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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 22:49 
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Seem to remember some program where the advances in safety design was being tested -seem to remember it used two models of Espace MPV,one current ,the other an earlier design and had a head on .On the earlier on everything went off and the conclusion was that any occupants would have suffered .On the newer one there was more damage to the outer shell ,but fewer ( if any airbags fired ) so it would have appeared to have decelerated slower .

Possibly the same thing with trucks - they tend to collide with things smaller ,hence decelerate sufficiently slow to not need airbags .

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 Post subject: Re: airbags
PostPosted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 09:21 
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As it would appear some spammer has brought this topic up again I might as well post a funny airbag activation link.


It just goes to show what can easily happen if you sit too close to the steering wheel !!

Here's the link

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