# After an air bag deploys will the auto still run? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372 "2014-04-17T23:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/1 "2014-04-17T23:49:03Z")
In a British sitcom a driver runs into a sofa in the road and his air bag deploys. He is not injured and after a brief kerfuffle he gets back in the car and drives away. Can that really happen? ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/2 "2014-04-18T00:36:13Z")
Depends on the car. Some cut off the fuel in a crash, some don’t. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/3 "2014-04-18T01:43:08Z")
As far as American made cars go, I think the general case is that the car will continue to function if the airbag deploys. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/4 "2014-04-18T02:15:55Z")
At least on older cars, there were sometimes separate devices that would cut off the fuel in the case of a crash, but they had different ways of detecting that a crash had occured than the airbag. So if you got one of those rare but not unheard of freak airbag delployments from hitting a piece of small road debris or something, the car would keep running. Although you’d probably be in no condition to drive it, needing at the very least a change of pants. On newer cars, everything is more integrated so I wouldn’t be suprised if the car did stop running after an airbag deployment. Of course, the airbag systems are generally better, so the chances of them randomly going off in a minor collision are lower. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/5 "2014-04-18T02:45:16Z")
I know a body shop owner who says he’s never seen one that wouldn’t run because of the airbag, assuming the engine isn’t damaged of course. Ford used those fuel cutoffs in a lot of cars for a while, but they usually had a reset button in the trunk, so if you got out and hit the button it would start back. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/6 "2014-04-18T03:00:10Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > So if you got one of those rare but not unheard of freak airbag delployments from hitting a piece of small road debris or something, the car would keep running. Although you’d probably be in no condition to drive it, needing at the very least a change of pants. > > On newer cars, everything is more integrated so I wouldn’t be suprised if the car did stop running after an airbag deployment. I should hope a car would stop running if the airbag pops. In the case of hitting some minor road debris, if it deploys, one would also hope the car is intelligent enough to guide itself safely to the side of the road and stop on the shoulder (without, however, going off any cliffs that may be around). If the car keeps running after the airbag goes POOF after hitting some minor thing – how ya gonna continue to pilot the thing with airbag in your face and cornmeal in your eyes? ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/7 "2014-04-18T05:00:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If the car keeps running after the airbag goes POOF after hitting some minor thing – how ya gonna continue to pilot the thing with airbag in your face and cornmeal in your eyes? I can only speak from personal experience. Several years ago, I rear-ended another car hard enough to deploy the airbag in my Saturn. (It was his fault, by the way…no…really!) When the dust settled (literally) and the gendarmes had assessed the scene, I was able to drive my car home, even though the front end was pretty stoved in. I don’t recall the airbag causing any particular visibility problems. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/8 "2014-04-18T05:02:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If the car keeps running after the airbag goes POOF after hitting some minor thing – how ya gonna continue to pilot the thing with airbag in your face and cornmeal in your eyes? A lot better than with the bag in your face and stuff in your eyes AND no power steering AND no power brakes AND no way to accelerate. ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/9 "2014-04-18T10:57:53Z")
In all modern vehicles, an electronic control module receives input from various sensors to determine when/if to deploy airbag(s). The ECM also determines how quickly (or with how much force) frontal airbags deploy and it also triggers the seatbelt pretensioners to tighten any slack. The ECM also disables the engine, usually by cutting off the fuel pump, if the airbags deploy. At the very least, a driver will be disoriented when an airbag suddenly hits them in the face. It’s also very possible that the driver may be seriously injured and/or unconscious after a serious impact. A running engine with an unconscious (or worse) driver would make a very bad situation even worse. By cutting off the fuel pump, it also helps to minimize the risk of a fuel-related fire. Many ECMs can be “reset” after an airbag deployment which re-enables the fuel pump. If the engine is still operable, it will run after a ‘reset’. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/10 "2014-04-18T14:59:43Z")
I saw a video on TV last week - Old lady walking very slow on a crossing. Impatient guy in a Porsche honks his horn - old lady deploys missile (aka bag of groceries) and hits the front of the Porsche. Result - airbag explodes and old lady walks off, leaving the unhappy driver to phone for a tow. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/11 "2014-04-18T15:27:27Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I know a body shop owner who says he’s never seen one that wouldn’t run because of the airbag, assuming the engine isn’t damaged of course. I may have phrased the question wrong to the body shop guy. It’s possible he meant he’s never seen one that requires more than a simple reset. He was kind of vague and on reflection, he may have thought I was asking if you have to do any “real” repair work to get it running again due to the airbag. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/12 "2014-04-18T15:45:44Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I saw a video on TV last week - Old lady walking very slow on a crossing. Impatient guy in a Porsche honks his horn - old lady deploys missile (aka bag of groceries) and hits the front of the Porsche. Result - airbag explodes and old lady walks off, leaving the unhappy driver to phone for a tow. You know that’s a joke ad, right? ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/13 "2014-04-18T22:40:40Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I may have phrased the question wrong to the body shop guy. It’s possible he meant he’s never seen one that requires more than a simple reset. My insurance company totaled my Saturn after the airbag deployed. Doubtless the damage was too great to justify fixing it anyway, but they also told me that a “simple reset” of my airbag system would cost $1500. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-an-air-bag-deploys-will-the-auto-still-run/686372/14 "2014-04-19T00:37:52Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > My insurance company totaled my Saturn after the airbag deployed. Doubtless the damage was too great to justify fixing it anyway, but they also told me that a “simple reset” of my airbag system would cost $1500. Just to get the vehicle to start or to replace the sensors and bags and get the airbag system back to normal?