Safe Speed Forums

Graphic and potentially disturbing image hidden by moderator

This was caused by a Passenger Air Bag By a car going at 60mph If you want you can go to http://www.fhm.com and go to pictures for additional comments.The direct link doesn't seem to work

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

That's not a very nice picture. I need advice to know if it oversteps the standards that I should be imposing. Frankly I don't have a clue, but I'm aware that UK TV and newspapers wouldn't use it. Do I need to remove it? Comments appreciated.

(This isn't a complaint Derick, and I certainly don't have a problem with you for posting it. I'm looking at a, err, bigger picture.)

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

It would probably be better simply with a link to the underlying image so it isn't so "in your face", as it were.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Yes. Thanks. Good advice. I've done that. Any further comments still appreciated.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

What part of the FHM site? Having seen the picture, I'd like to read the article. I've had a quick look but can't find it.

I personally see no difference in the "gruesome" stakes between that picture, & the one of Daniella Westbrook's cocaine ravaged nose that was published in the tabloids not so long ago.

The actual injury itself is not that bad, and certainly nothing that cannot be fixed by a few butterfly stitches.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Thanks Paul. Wasn't sure What to do with It. Apoligies If It Offended

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

When On Home page, Look at Bottom For MMS Gallery, when that appears there Is 4 Boards - You want The Horror Section On Right (In Green) In there somewhere

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

That's probably a better thing to receive than a steering wheel to the face. Although how on earth did an airbag manage to make such a sharp cut?

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

Couldn't agree more Mike. I expected it would be something shocking that might make me question the wisdom of driving a car with an airbag, but really all it shows is that crashing a car can hurt - airbag notwithstanding! Still best to avoid crashing in the first place, but we all knew that without the picture.

I'm wondering about that too. Maybe BiBs with hands on experience of dealing with RTCs could explain it, or Mad Moggie with his medical knowledge. I can think of a possibility - if the airbag went off while the guy had a hand in front of it the bag could have made him smack himself in the face pretty hard, and if he was wearing a ring as well that maybe that could have been enough to cause the injury in the photo. No knowledge or experience, just a wild guess on my part.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

ah.. 'tis but a flesh wound.

burns & bruising are also quite normal if you get airbagged.

Doesn't look so bad to me considering this was a 60mph (allegedly) impact.

Also no mention of what vehicle or was there any object between airbag and nose at the time.

Considering the violent nature of the inflation and the fact that older airbags are rough in texture, it is possible that the force just pushed the nose to the extend that it split. Bet it stung though!

Gareth

I attended quite a few ROADA lectures on the subject of road safety. I was once lectured on the dangers of these airbags by a senior fire officer who showed many pictures of accidents and the victims involved. He told me that it is dangerous to sit any closer than 18 inches in front of an airbag. If it goes off, there is enough force to violently push your head back and break your neck.

My ROADA driving instructor told me that it's possible to have airbags deactivated BUT, if you ask you car dealer to deactivate these devices, they'll hand you a document which you must give to your insurance company and that could affect your insurance.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

I'm just waiting for the crash stats that arise from spurious air bag deployment. They are supposed to have a service life of ten years. What are they going to do in a 12 year old car with dodgy wiring? Are any owners of 10 year old cars going to replace their air bags?

How do you fancy having one of those blow up in your face (literally!) on L3 of a motorway at 70mph?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Until I got this latest Accord, my motors have all been pre-airbag. I have not yet researched the service aspect of airbags, but I'm guessing it's a case of visual inspection of the bag and replacement of the explosive sachet(s). I'm also guessing it is not a light undertaking and will require some pretty highly trained technicians to do it.

I still haven't owned an air bag car. It's not the device itself that scares me - it's the wiring that controls it. Somewhere there's a wire that carries the trigger signal. How many vehicles reach the end of their life without experiencing a significant wiring fault? Have they taken steps to ensure that shorting that wire to +12 or ground won't trigger the explosives?

If they had asked me to design it I would have insisted on a trigger signal that could not easily be spuriously generated. For example, we could have a 200 volt pulse required to trigger the air bag. The trigger sensor could incorporate the electronics required to generate the 200V trigger signal. But I wouldn't mind betting it's just +12V and shorting the wire to power will trigger it.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

If they'd asked me to specify the design, it would require an intelligent pulse train - two-way interrogation. Mind you, there has to be a weak link somewhere - a spurious signal from the accelerometer indicating a serious impact will cause them to go off.

Are you sure you have thought about this? No no, and thrice NO!

The problem with this sort of scheme is that you have to delegate trigger responsibility to some logic electronics - the logic electronics might be affected by spikes, RFI or by circuit failure. Where one really needs to use logic electronics in such a situation, I would recommend duplication or triplication. For air bag deployment I'd steer very well clear of the logic electronics.



I'm not so worried about the behaviour of mechanical sealed 'spring and bob weight' type triggers. Conditions inside the sealed chamber won't change much over a decade, the bob weight won't change weight, and the spring won't fail because it's not subject to regular movement. I'd design the associated electronics to fail safe. The idea of the 200V trigger pulse is good because any failure is likely to cause the 200V supply to fail. No 200V would mean no trigger signal.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

No I'd not thought it through. Points taken regarding the logic - although if in mumetal enclosures and with fibre copling...

Mind you - if the chemicals need a decent dose of joules to make them go I do like the idea of a charged capacitor on the "feed" side of the transducer.