I have just taken the old Volvo for an MOT which I know will cost more than the car is worth. Oh well.
Almost exactly two years ago, the above happened. I don't know if any of you have ever set off an airbag, but it is a shocking experience. Because the airbag has to begin deflating a quarter of a second after it is fully inflated, high-explosive is used. Nothing else is fast enough. When you come to your senses and check to see if you are still in one, intact piece, you find yourself choking on the smoke which has instantly filled the entire cab.
In your dazed state, it takes a while to convince yourself that the car is not on fire and about to explode. In this case I tried to open the door and found that it was jammed closed by the crumpled bodywork which had distorted the frame. I shoved at it with my shoulder and it opened with a nasty graunching sound.
Once out, I busied myself by swearing at the courier driver who had been consulting his phone on a tight bend in the country lane when he hit me at about 40 MPH, pushing me backwards about 10 feet, even though my foot was hard on the brake pedal. See my tyre marks.
In between my cursing, he asked me if I was ok. I hadn't thought about that too hard before then. I knew nothing was broken, but my elbow joints ached from the impact for two months. My arms were outstretched with both hands on the wheel, and they did not bend when he hit. That's what saved my nose and teeth from the airbag.
The breakdown truck driver who collected the car told me that most airbags are covered in blood when he finds them after a head-on collision. It's a good job they go from rock-hard to slightly less hard in a quarter of a second, otherwise you might just as well rely on the steering wheel to cushion the impact - just like the old days.
My latest Volvo is fitted with side-impact airbags which - apparently - fly up from the side of the seat if you are in a T junction crash. It also has a sort of curtain airbag which comes down (or up) from the roof if you turn upside down.
I hope I never have to see those in action.
No! I've never had the experience of
ReplyDeletean air~bag..had a few minor scratches
from the age of 17..after passing my
test, all the next motors were rather
large..the first motor with an air bag
was a 2.8 Datsun Sedan..had that, for
two years, when a lady in a Datsun 160
came out of a junction and hit the front
near side wing..buckled all the metal work
up..and NO! the air~bag did'nt 'explode'..!
HeHe! Mind you, if l'd been you when the guy
that hit you said..are you o.k. I would have
staggered back, holding my chest with both
hands..and..going Ah! Ah! Ah!
Hope you tucked him up for a few bob...!
Never had one, but, l've always like Volvo's...
Always thought they're well built, and stand up
to most things, l've a friend who has two, there
quite old to..!
I got the same money back as I paid for the car, plus a courtesy car for about 6 weeks. I don't lie about injuries - that's what puts my premium up.
DeleteNo! I jest of course..! :).
DeleteThough l got a reduced insurance a year
ago by £64..As l retired 'fully' last
September, and from doing 200~300 miles
a week to now 25..yes, 25..they reduced
it by £64..Oh! And a further £60 for the
legal cover..so now l pay £198 full cover,
still covered for business, etc..and that's
for a 11yr old Clio..and l've had it 5yrs..
So, gone are the days of the old passion wagons..! :).
This post is kind of horrifying and really bloody funny all at once. I've never driven a car with an airbag, let alone been in a fight with one. Sounds like your volvo pulled through alright. 'Volvo ... they're boxy but they're safe' is pretty much the sexiest branding slogan ever.
ReplyDeleteThe car was written-off but I wasn't. These days, they're not that boxy even. Years ago there was a myth that nobody had ever died in a Volvo accident. When I heard that I knew that it was a myth. A friend of mine had burned to death in one after going upside down in a ditch. I had the same model, and that one maintained a pressure of about 80 PSI in the fuel line, even with the engine turned off. When running it was about 130 PSI.
DeleteI was held up by an accident in Moldova last year. When I eventually got past and could see the cars involved, it was on a junction on a dual carriageway, the type of junction that are generally blocked off on English roads, I could see an airbag covered in blood. My brother had a car with one airbag. He had a head-on crash and he was uninjured except for the airbag hitting him in the face and hurting his eyes, and his wife in the passengers seat suffered serious injuries, no airbag.
ReplyDeleteYes, airbags may save lives but they still cause injuries. I made my arms rigid and closed my eyes. I always felt guilty/worried driving the car above around with H.I. as a passenger. There was only one airbag. The latest has two, plus the others mentioned.
DeleteI wonder whether at lower speeds, when the seat belt and head reast would be sufficient, an air bag causes more injuries than it saves. I bet they err on the side of "caution" so they go off when they don't need to.
ReplyDeleteI think the lowest speed an airbag is activated is about 20 MPH. That's fast enough to hit yourself hard against the dashboard or wheel, especially if the other car is doing the same. 2 x 20 = 40 against an immovable object, after all.
DeleteI meant + of course, not x.
DeleteThat is scary. Being hit at 40 mph has to be a real jolt. Your new Volvo sounds better equipped for any accident.
ReplyDeleteWith the latest car, 2 people can be injured by airbags.
DeleteIgittegitt - I never thought of airbags as injury-inducing -- thought of them as friendly soft feather-bags.
ReplyDeleteI never had the experience, glad to say. People who read their phone while driving are really, really awful. Good that you were not too quick!
He was an Eastern European driver who did not know the roads and was on a tight schedule and low wages. I still hated him. No mercy.
DeleteHow terrifying. I read a horrifying piece about what happens to people (mostly youngsters) who ride in the passenger seat with feet up on the dashboard if there's a crsh and the air bags go off. Life changing injuries was the term used. Always best to keep your feet on the floor, just in case.
ReplyDeleteIt would drive your knees into your face with the force of a small cannon.
DeleteFortunately never had so bad a smash that the things went off.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I ever got hit nearly that badly, I was sitting the car, parked in a parking place!
Almost as dangerous as lying down in a parking place.
DeleteYou were so lucky!! Cars sometimes give me the shudders over what can go wrong. And those narrow English lanes are beautiful but terrifying for their hazards. Remember when old timers used to drive around with a box of tissues on the back dashboard, often covered in some crocheted bit of horror? I remember studying physics at school and we were given an example of the force a box of tissues flying inside a car upon impact at various speeds and it was essentially going to be as damaging to your person as a thrown brick. The crochet-work will never save the back of your head.
ReplyDeleteThere are more fatalities on small country roads than on motorways, but I have never heard of a flying box of tissues killing anyone. Teachers tell lies, and the bigger the lie, the more readily it will be believed by children.
DeleteTrue! Else how could I have remembered this at such a long remove?
DeleteMy nephew was badly injured by a full single serve bottle of water. Concussion if I remember correctly.
DeleteIn the crash above, my phone flew off the passenger seat and hit the bulkhead so hard that it turned itself off. It would not start again for a while, so I had trouble calling for help with the wreck. Water is heavy. A bottle on the back of the head at 40 MPH would cause some damage.
DeleteI've never been in an accident that triggered an airbag. How fortunate. I was in an accident in which I saved the car ahead from being involved. In the mirror I saw a vendor's truck coming that could not possibly stop. It hit the car behind, drove that car into me. I was standing on the brake, more from fear of being driven into the intersection than protecting the car ahead. That driver went on, oblivious.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that if you see something hurtling up in your rear view mirror you should release your brake and allow your car to be pushed into the one in front to reduce the whiplash effect. That doesn't take being pushed into a busy intersection into account though.
DeleteI was once hit from behind. A driver had not noticed that I had a turn signal on and that I had stopped for oncoming traffic. He hit me from behind and I was hit head on by the truck I was waiting for to make my turn who was traveling at 55 mph. The battery from my vehicle hit another car two vehicles behind. The thing about that kind of a crash is that it is so shocking that quite actually, I didn't remember the accident at all until weeks later when I was drying a pot in the kitchen and my daughter was watching some shoot 'em up police chase show. The squealing tires triggered the memory and I stood there with my dishtowel feeling as if I would vomit. He tried to sue me, saying that I didn't have my turn signal on. I can tell you that I did. In his testimony, he said, "when I looked up, she was stopping." I actually think that he was looking at a cell phone, although it can never be proven. The court decided that the accident was due to his negligence, not mine.
ReplyDelete'When I looked up...' is a confession as far as I can see. I'm glad he didn't win. In a much smaller way, I had a few flashbacks after the accident above. It certainly changed my driving habits for good.
DeleteA chief of the paramedics friend told us our Volvo was the safest vehicle on the road. He and his wife each own one.
ReplyDeleteThey used to be, but standards have improved all round in the last few years.
Delete