Airbags
[Designed as safety system alongside with the seatbelts for driver and passengers, the airbag has been developed during the Second World War. Initially these devices were used on airplanes, being originally patented as an inflatable device.]
[According to statistics in case of a front impact, airbags reduce the risk of death by 30%. At the triggering of an airbag in case of impact the main purpose is to slow the passenger movement in a earliest time possible, therefore we speak of fractions of a second.]
[Actually the construction material of a type is nylon which is folded into the steering wheel for the driver, into the dashboard for the front passenger as well as in seats or doors. The airbag is triggered when it receives command from the sensors placed in various key points in the car's exterior.]
[The airbag is inflated due to a chemical reaction between sodium azide (NaN 3) with potassium nitrate (KNO3) which have the role to produce gaseous nitrogen. Triggering command to the airbag is given only in the moment of a collision at the speed of over 16km/h.]
Airbag Cushion
Starting from the airbag intended exclusive for the driver, it came to front passenger airbags, for head (curtain, placed sideways), for knee, for trunk, and even airbags for rear passengers, integrated into seatbelt as well as airbags for pedestrians.
Multiple airbag modules
[In the case of motorcycle are available jackets with integrated airbag that is triggered at the time of vehicle separation which snatch a special cord that "linking" the rider to the motorcycle.]
Little Known
[All new cars have airbags implemented, which support the safety of drivers everywhere. Below are some interesting facts about "air pockets"]Did you know that…
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- The first manufacturer who designed and developed the airbag is Allen Breed and the invention was sold to Chrysler. However, the first experiments with airbags were made by Ford in 1971
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- In the same year, Mercedes has designed an identical system, followed nine years later by Mercedes S class that have implemented this safety system
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- Porsche 944 is the first car that had airbag system as standard.
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- Neither the japanese were not left behind: in 1987 was implemented a safety system on Honda Legend, and 11 years later Toyota Avensis would be the first car with nine airbags sold in Europe.
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- Initially, the airbag was designed to replace the safety belt, not to be complementary to it
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- Midsize cars (as Opel, Renault, Fiat and Volkswagen) began to be equipped with air bags system a bit after 1990.
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- As for the big brand Audi, they adopted quite unwieldy the airbags. Only after 1994, german models were equipped with this safety system
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- Airbags implemented in seat was designed to protect the pelvis and were first used on cars Volvo 850, also in 1994
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- Toyota Progress is the car that had for the first time curtain airbag that protects the head from the impact with the side window. Also BMW had a different system, but initially less performant than of the japanese. They were also the first who implemented the knee airbag on Avensis.
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- In most cars, the airbag are not activated because of the speed recorded during the impact, but rather due to the deceleration sensor.
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- Whatever the model of the car, airbags deploy in the event of fire. When the temperature to the staple passes 150 degrees Celsius triggering occurs.
Save with AirBags
An airbag must be fitted adequately to have a good functionality. When mounted badly an airbag have serious consequences for the car and its passengers. It also should not have any damages. In Germany, the airbags are transported with the same attention as explosives.
Airbag Operation
[ How much are needed? Well, know that every year globally are triggered over 700 million airbags. Many lives are saved because of them, so we have to be thankful to the air pockets!]
7 Things You Did not Know About airbag
[Over time, airbags have saved millions of lives. Here are 7 things you did not know about an airbag:]Air Bag
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- The airbag is fully inflated in 0.04 seconds after impact, five times faster than the time it takes to an eye to blink. Eye blinks in 0.2 seconds.
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- The speed with which an airbag inflates is about 300 km/h.
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- Every year hundreds of people die worldwide because incorrect triggering of the airbag.
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- There are several types of airbags including: front airbag, side airbag, curtain airbag, central airbag, rear window airbag, knee airbag, airbag belt and airbag for pedestrians.
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- On July 11, 1984 in the USA, the US government introduced as mandatory standard the equipment of vehicles with airbag from April 1, 1989.
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- The first car that benefited from airbags was Oldsmobile Toronado.
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- Statistics show that an airbag kills a person to 22 saved.
Gotham
I also sit and think about the accidents that happened before car manufacturers were forced to have airbags as standard!