What is the Purpose of Airbags in cars?

What is the purpose of airbags?

If you are wearing a seatbelt, what is the point?

I can only imagine that an airbag might prevent something from hitting you through the window or help if you werent wearing your seatbelt.

I also heard someone say that if you had your arm in front of the airbag while steering it would break it.

I know airbags air very powerful or inflate extremely quickly but this sounds like an exaggeration to me. I know that children have died from airbags inflating while their heads were very close to them, but a neck can be broken very easy compared to an arm. It takes very little pressure to break someones neck especially a childs.

Does anyone know of some concrete evidence of someone having an arm or hand broken by an airbag?

 

except for the stories i've heard about children being injured by them, i haven't heard a story about an adult being injured by airbags. if i remember correctly, airbags are supposed to cushion you in an event of a accident.

 

Thanks for the reply,juicy_arms. I havn't actually heard of someone saying they have had their arms broken, but I have heard things on car forums where people have said to keep from crossing your arm infront of the steering wheel when driving because if you did that during an accident the airbag would break your arm.

The reason I am even wondering about this is because I have an idea for cars that I would like to develop but if this is true about airbags that would pose a big problem.

I am wondering what the actual purpose of the airbag is because that could possible be positioned some where else so it wouldnt interfer with my idea.

Is an airbag there to prevent whip lash or more for a situation when you forget to wear your seat belt?

 

i think it goes both ways. if you're not wearing a seat belt, the airbag prevents you from flying out the front dashboard. if you are wearing a seatbelt, then yes it's to prevent whiplash.

 

The airbags is the final thing that stops your speed.

Seat belts already reduce your speed greatly and the airbag prevents that you hit your head on the dashboard

Besides the airbags also prevents you from neck injuries...

 

i see. but what's the purpose of side airbags? ?

 

I have tried to do a little research on the net but it is very unclear about it's actual purpose.

There was a site that had pictures of a collision with a crash test dummy.In the images it showed the dummy flying forward and the seat belt it was wearing not holding the dummy to the seat.

I thought that during a crash the seatbelt became unable to extend , but in these images the dummy just flew forward into the bag. Didn't make sense.

 

"i see. but what's the purpose of side airbags?"

Good question, if airbags are this powerful, how can one be positioned so close to your body if it is on the side?

 

intresting pictures. my grandpa doesn't put his seatbelt beacause he feels they do more harm than good & those pictures would support his belief. i'm confused on side airbags. they could cause injury, but i haven't heard a report in which they did.

 

You have side airbags?!

hmmm

maybe the side airbags are used when the car is hit at either of the sides...

I dunno

don't have side airbags...

 

neither do i, but i've heard alot about them.

 

Yea, side airbags keep you from bangin your head sidways if you are hit from the side. I still dont understand how these wouldn't be dangerous going off so close though, closer than the steering wheel bag, much closer.

 

My sister an adult got hurt with an air bag. She broke her freaking arm and it was like broke really bad.

MA2

 

Do you know for sure if it was from the airbag or if it was from the crash itself, if there was a crash? Or did the airbag just go off?

 

MA2, that really sucks.

 

It wasn't a crash it was just rainy out and her car slid and the air bag went off.

MA2

 

That sucks that happend to your sister MissAmidala2. Thanks for lettin me know though that helps me.

 

It wasn't a crash it was just rainy out and her car slid and the air bag went off.

Hmmm, the car did slid... maybe she hitted something?

But that's terrible to hear...

 

if it wasnt for my airbag, i would be dead right now, i dont know if thats a good, or bad thing but i like living. i was wearing my seatbelt, but it was the airbag that saved me, the medics said so, and i will beleive them.

 

No the car didn't hitted something.

MA2

 

Wow Finney thats scary.

Did the seatbelt break or something?

 

Side airbags are supposed to protect you if you get T-boned. There's only so much that they can do, though.

Airbags are violent when they inflate, but considering the speeds and forces involved, they'd be totally useless if they were gentle. They can do a lot of damage by themselves, but I'd much rather have a smashed up arm than a pulverized head.

 

See the problem I have is, I need to know what the specific function of it is. Is it only to prevent head and neck injuries, or is it supposed to work with the seat belt?

If it is just for the neck it could possibly be moved away from the steering wheel say to the front of the roof and could extend down from there to keep the head from whipping forward.

 

If you mounted it that way it would probably knock your head off.

 

If the "bag" was shaped properly it could work I think. In the same way that side impact bags are shaped differently.