Honda Recall (Page 2): The California Drivers Handbook now recommends 8+4, but I find it causes a strain on my wrists if I hold my hands in that position. It doesn't seem natural to...

therwol Loc: USA

Bret P wrote:

Interesting. My hand and finger broke in a car crash, but airbag didn't deploy, the force of the crash threw my hand off the wheel and into the door. I like 8+4 too, but I was turning. I think hands and arms fly around, airbag or not.

The California Drivers Handbook now recommends 8+4, but I find it causes a strain on my wrists if I hold my hands in that position. It doesn't seem natural to me. By the way, I've seen arm injuries (and face) from airbags. I used to work in a hospital/clinic.

ELNikkor

I had always turned the wheel hand-over-hand. When I saw a younger driver just sliding his hands along the 8-4 positions in a turn, I asked him why. He said that is the style now because if you do wide swings over the top and crash, the airbags will blow your arms into your body.

agillot

The seat belt is designed to keep you on your seat . If you get hit hard enough , you could end up on the right seat , or even at the rear , so now your car has no driver , and goes down the street . The air bag will keep you from hitting the windshield , the seat belt alone may not .

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

BebuLamar wrote:

I read somewhere a long time ago that the air bag was implemented because people didn't wear their seat belts. If people wear seat belts then the air bags aren't needed. Although almost all people wear seat belts nowaday. I guess that's why race car don't have air bags. They don't put air bags on plane either. But shoulder harness appear to be effective.

Deepening on how and what you hit, you may not be in front of the air bag when it deploys. If you are not belted and this could lead to more serious injuries. The modern seatbelt restraints are intended to be used in conjunction with the airbag. As a safety engineer at Ford in Dearborn for several year I visited some very nasty accident sites where people did not use the restraints thinking the airbag alone would protect them. At one site I visited the occupant was ejected by the airbag because he was airborne when the bad was deployed.

Schoee Loc: Europe

BebuLamar wrote:

I read somewhere a long time ago that the air bag was implemented because people didn't wear their seat belts. If people wear seat belts then the air bags aren't needed. Although almost all people wear seat belts nowaday. I guess that's why race car don't have air bags. They don't put air bags on plane either. But shoulder harness appear to be effective.

Airbag still useful for very hard crash. In countries where seat belt use is higher the airbag sensor is set at a higher threshold. In USA where traditionally seatbelt use was lower the sensor is set lower.

Burtzy Loc: Bronx N.Y. & Simi Valley, CA

BebuLamar wrote:

I read somewhere a long time ago that the air bag was implemented because people didn't wear their seat belts. If people wear seat belts then the air bags aren't needed. Although almost all people wear seat belts nowaday. I guess that's why race car don't have air bags. They don't put air bags on plane either. But shoulder harness appear to be effective.

Actually air bags are used on a lot of airplanes. Obviously, they are useless in a plane crash, but in on the ground collisions, they can prevent injuries. In cars, they are necessary to prevent upper body and side impacts but seat belts are also necessary because they keep the passengers in the right position for the air bags to be useful. A person will not be saved by an airbag if that person is hurling through the windshield above the bag. The link below is to a Wikipedia page about the history of airbags. The first patent was in 1919.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

What does it cost these days to install a new airbag after one deploys?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bret P wrote:

I like 8+4 too, but I was turning. I think hands and arms fly around, airbag or not.

Lesson learned! Limit your driving to straight roads. 😂

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

EdJ0307 wrote:

I had several Honda motorcycles over the last 40 years and as far as I can recall none of them air bags. They didn't have seat belts either.

Nothing more dangerous to your health then flying through the air at a high rate of speed and no protection.

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

jerryc41 wrote:

Lesson learned! Limit your driving to straight roads. 😂

head-on only, no rough off road driving to make you bounce around, don't have a loose seat/ shoulder belt.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

My car (an older Mercedes) has pretensioners on the belts to pull them tight when it senses a crash, and I’m guessing most cars do now. They have to be replaced after a crash just like an airbag that’s deployed.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

TriX wrote:

My car (an older Mercedes) has pretensioners on the belts to pull them tight when it senses a crash, and I’m guessing most cars do now. They have to be replaced after a crash just like an airbag that’s deployed.

There were two systems. One tightened the shoulder belt if you pulled on it quickly. I think most cars now use this other type. You can pull on the belt as fast as you want, and it will spool out. Instead, a pendulum inside the door pillar will swing forward in a collision and lock the belt. The old system was a nuisance when you pulled quickly on the shoulder belt only to have it lock up.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

jerryc41 wrote:

There were two systems. One tightened the shoulder belt if you pulled on it quickly. I think most cars now use this other type. You can pull on the belt as fast as you want, and it will spool out. Instead, a pendulum inside the door pillar will swing forward in a collision and lock the belt. The old system was a nuisance when you pulled quickly on the shoulder belt only to have it lock up.

The pretensioners in my car actually have a small explosive charge that tightens the belts when the accelerometer senses high deceleration. I believe Mercedes pioneered this technology in the early 80s

Dave H2

The failure of the inertia lock on seatbelts is a common problem. Navy aircraft have a manual lock for the inerita system and is a required item on the landing checklist.
D

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

TriX wrote:

The pretensioners in my car actually have a small explosive charge that tightens the belts when the accelerometer senses high deceleration. I believe Mercedes pioneered this technology in the early 80s

That must make the crash just a bit more exciting. "Now they're shooting at us!"