I just read Dark_Horse_05's nightMARE post about his Halloween T-bone crash, where his side-impact airbags did not deploy. Has anyone else had the unfortunate experience of being in a side-impact crash in their Mustang outfitted with the optional air bags, and not had them work?
I ordered my car with the side-impact air bag option, and I'm worried that there may be a flaw in the manufacturing process. If so, Ford needs to know about this right away so that they can get a recall out.
I have probably seen at least 20 different hard crashed 05 Mustangs pictures on the net. Anything from hitting a deer at 50mph to being ran over from behind by a truck. Out of all of the different cars, I think maybe 2 ( honestly only remember 1 ) of them had teh airbags deployed.
Kinda makes ya wonder...
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yeah......would u want them to come jumping out at you in 1 mill-a-second & a punch in the face just because you hit the front end and not the side?..i think they'd come out if there was a roll-over or a side impact only.....just because you order the side impacts doesnt mean you want to USE them..so think about it...u drive safe,no worries....some car hits u from the side it'll be worth it big time...if u didnt see those crash test dummies testing u should...lots of impact of the car hits the head pretty hard so yeah i'd order "side impact" airbags just for saftey reasons
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First sentence in DownWithEyes post says:
" just read Dark_Horse_05's nightMARE post about his Halloween T-bone crash, where his side-impact airbags did not deploy"
So I would assume that yes, he had side airbags.
Reguardless, I have seen many frontal impacts on these cars with no airbag depoyment. Just look at the picture nonsensez9 posted. You can't tell me that shouldn't have deployed an airbag.
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2005 GT Premium,torch red, all available factory options.
Performance mods: Lets just say it's not stock.
Some people are like Slinkies. They're really good for nothing. But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
From what I read in the original post by nonsensez9, he didn't incur any injuries from windshield nor the steering wheel. The seatbelt held him in place. Why would we want the airbag to deploy if the impact is such that it will not bring the steering column towards the driver or dash towards the passenger? As most of you have seen in crash dummy tests where the front airbag deploys, the impact brings the front dash towards the driver/passenger or the impact is of such force that the seatbelt isn't enough to keep the driver/passenger from the steering column/dashboard. In that case the airbag helps cushion the impact. Personnaly if my body is not going to hit the steering wheel, I would not want the airbag to deploy. Just my .02...
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From what I read in the original post by nonsensez9, he didn't incur any injuries from windshield nor the steering wheel. The seatbelt held him in place. Why would we want the airbag to deploy if the impact is such that it will not bring the steering column towards the driver or dash towards the passenger? As most of you have seen in crash dummy tests where the front airbag deploys, the impact brings the front dash towards the driver/passenger or the impact is of such force that the seatbelt isn't enough to keep the driver/passenger from the steering column/dashboard. In that case the airbag helps cushion the impact. Personnaly if my body is not going to hit the steering wheel, I would not want the airbag to deploy. Just my .02...
I would have to agree, I would not want my glasses embedded in my skull if they don't have to
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ahh.. then I guess I'm glad I didn't pay for that option.
No seriously, I missed that in the original post. I know that there are angles and speeds that make the front airbags go off. Definatly worth a contact to ford though. They're good about customer service (from what I can tell).
It was my car that got T Boned,and there was no doubt in my mind that the side bags should have deployed...Check out my door,it looks like a discarded tin can...
i dont know much about side airbags, but on the NUMEROUS crashes i have worked, i have never seen any deployed. but im guessing until a couple of years ago only a small fraction of vehicles on the road have them. with the frontal airbags most vehicles will only deploy if the speed is more than 15 mph and less than 50 mph. the reason i was told was the airbag is not neccessary in 15 mph crashes, and doesnt deploy at speeds above 50 due to the fact that airbags are designed for a human body to strike them as they are DEFLATING, not inflating. the bags inflate at approx. 250mph. if you crash at a higher speed, say 70 mph, the system will not deploy b/c at that speed your body will strike the bag as it inflates, and not as it deflates, which has been the cause of all airbag related deaths. person hit the bag as it inflated. its like taking a 250 mph punch. i can also tell you from my experience working accidents, that airbags are seldom deployed. id say 9 out of 10 dont deploy b/c they werent neccessary. i can also tell you that in about 300+accidents i have worked, including several fatalities, the average impact speed is usually 35 to 40 mph due to most hit their brakes before impact. the fastest impact speed i have ever figured up on a vehicle was 60mph, and that only happened once in a T-Bone collision. the bags didnt deploy either. i am wondering if it has to do with the severity of the impact. if you are hit very hard (such as the lady in this particular crash who died on impact) the bags may again do more harm than good. wouldnt have helped her anyway, she wasnt buckled up and was hit so hard she was thrown from her drivers seat clear out the passenger side door! literally, she went through the door and broke it halfway off its hinges. 2000 honda accord 4 dr. if she had just stopped for the friggin stop sign....
but anyway, back on topic, darkhorse, the reason your bags may not have deployed is that you were hit so hard that the system decided it would be more of a risk to inflate the bag. need to find out 1. the speed the officer determined the impacting vehicle was at. 2. the impact speed requirements for the mustangs system to deploy the bags. that should tell you.
man, nothing, i mean nothing will fugg up your car like a deer (except a bull, seen that too!) and out of the countless ones i have worked (im in a rural area) they dont set off the bags. in your case it was b/c you didnt hit the deer head on, you just kinda clipped it. if its not head on with that small of an object, it wont set off the bags. now if it was a car, it probably would have. one of the officers i work with was running 90mph code 3 to back another officer and hit a deer HEAD-ON in his 96 crown vic. ripped the front end completely off, the hood, went through the radiator, and believe it or not, struck so hard that it REMOVED the 4.6L from its place between the motor mounts, by breaking them and shoved the engine into the firewall. yes, a deer did that! the officer was medi-flighted and recovered. so did his ridealong, who will probably think twice before riding with the cops again. the deer was completely disintegrated, as it took out the windshield and lightbar on the roof and landed in a pile of gore on the road. i found a 4 pt antler about 50 feet from the car... oh, no airbag deployment either....
Air bags don't work???!!! 
i can also tell you from my experience working accidents, that airbags are seldom deployed. id say 9 out of 10 dont deploy b/c they werent neccessary. i can also tell you that in about 300+accidents i have worked, including several fatalities, the average impact speed is usually 35 to 40 mph due to most hit their brakes before impact. the fastest impact speed i have ever figured up on a vehicle was 60mph, and that only happened once in a T-Bone collision. the bags didnt deploy either. i am wondering if it has to do with the severity of the impact. if you are hit very hard (such as the lady in this particular crash who died on impact) the bags may again do more harm than good. wouldnt have helped her anyway, she wasnt buckled up and was hit so hard she was thrown from her drivers seat clear out the passenger side door!
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the deer was completely disintegrated, as it took out the windshield and lightbar on the roof and landed in a pile of gore on the road. i found a 4 pt antler about 50 feet from the car... oh, no airbag deployment either....
