Is it mechanically possible for a car be in a head-on collision that causes the airbags to deploy and keep driving? And would a person wearing no protection above the neck be able to maintain\regain reasonable control of a vehicle?
I understand there are a pretty narrow set of variables that govern airbag deployment. Let’s say for the sake of argument that I’m driving an older sedan (no fancy OnStar or automatic ignition shutoff) down an empty highway at 65 mph and I see something reasonably hefty that cannot be avoided and for which I do not want to stop–maybe a clump of a dozen zombies–I maintain speed and head straight for the pack. When I hit them, the airbag deploys and the noise of the crash draws even more zombies out of the woods. Could I keep on driving and avoid being eaten alive?
This is more about the airbag\driving than zombies despite the theatrics.
Unless there is some damage that prevents it, they drive with a blown airbag just fine. The bag is kind of in the way and hits your legs, making it slightly difficult to turn, but tucking it out of the way is easy enough.
There are too many factors to guess whether the person can maintain control.
It takes a sufficiently powerful front-end hit to deploy the airbag that you won’t be in control of the car during and immediately after the hit, anyway. You will probably be forced to a complete stop. The airbag won’t interfere with you driving away afterward, but your engine will probably have been too badly damaged to run. I guess you’re going to get your brains sucked out. Too bad.
I think you’ve got a false premise. I’m not sure a dozen zombies would actually deploy your airbag.
Anecdote:
In 2001, I was in an accident.
An impaired driver ran a redlight in front of me.
I began to brake, and we more or less collided front left headlight area [mine] to front of hood.
I was in a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, a 4100-lb sedan [1]carrying 600 lbs of passenger and cargo.
She was in a 2000 Ford Escort ZX2, a 2500-lb sedan [2]. Barring substantial trunk contents, I’d guess the vehicle was carrying 200 lbs of passenger and cargo.
Her vehicle’s radiator was smashed, and her airbags deployed. The hood and the parts under it looked pretty well screwed up. She was crying.
The Caprice had a broken headlight, a slightly bent fender (still drivable in a pinch, but tire was slightly rubbing the fender) and the hood was bent. Also, the air cleaner box was basically intact except for one corner. Not only was I not crying, but the only part of the accident I felt was the part where I pressed very hard on the brake pedal.
My airbags didn’t go off, and despite having just totaled a motor vehicle, I could have driven away without any concerns except for the fender messing up my tire.
Based on that, I’m not seeing hitting a zombie as something that would deploy your airbag.
Maybe if they were a bunch of football-playing zombies in a huddle or something.
Deployment criteria vary from car maker to car maker. Hitting a dozen zombies might deploy the bags on one car but not another.
OK for the sake of arguement let’s say the that you are driving an older airbag Volvo (cause that is what I am familar with) and hit something that deploys the bags.
The driver’s airbag is larger than the steering wheel as it is designed to blow your hands off of the wheel when it deploys. As soon as the airbag deflates, youi could then grab the wheel and proceed.
On the newer models the fuel pump is cut off at a deployment to prevent a fuel spill and possible fire.
As far as damage to the car goes we had a case when I worked at corporate.
Teenage daughter comes into house from garage and says to mom, “I was just sitting in the Volvo listening to the radio and the airbags just went off”
Mom looks at car, not a scratch on it. Calls Volvo and alleges a product defect.
Car gets towed to dealer for inspection.
make a long story short, little miss teenager ran over a curb stop or something at about 40 MPH, hit the subframe and displaced the entire engine and transmission back several inches. This transmitted enough force into the car to trigger the bags.
She then drove it home, parked it in the garage and made up the just listening to the radio story.
So yes cars can be driveable after airbag deployment.
On some cars yes. Jaguar and Ford both had (and might still have) an inertia switch that would shut the pump off if subjected to a large enough shock (crash or a Dukes of Hazzard move)
Many other cars will kill the pump if the engine RPM=0 or the car is locked. The last being antitheft.
Also back to the OP many cars unlock the doors when the bags go off. Not good in zombie held territory.
Honestly’s OP specifies an older sedan. My wife’s '92 Pontiac Bonneville had a similar crash. Instead of a group of zombies, you can substitute a Ford Exploder. The Bonneville was spun around, and she was able to drive it to the side of the road.
Airbags are designed to deploy in a fraction of a second, then deflate just as fast, so the driver can regain control. It’s a bit awkward, steering with a limp cloth bad on the steering wheel, but you can continue to drive, if necessary.
Back to the zombie thing, even if the radiator were broken, the car could be driven for miles before the overheating engine destroys itself.
An airbag deployment will essentially knock you unconscious in order to save your life. No way will you be able to control the car for tens of seconds and more likely a few minutes afterward.
A cow-orker deployed his airbag by screwing up a left turn and high-centering on the median. (weird intersection, I almost followed his example one time).
The airbag pretty much knocked him cold. He had no memory of starting the turn, etc. It took a week or so before he was fully recovered.
I’ve been in a collision in which my airbag deployed. I was completely coherent the entire time and my car was fully operational immediately after the accident.
Wrong. Your co-worker’s experience is in no way typical.
I witnessed an accidental airbag deployment where the person was way out of position, and got hit much harder than he should have. He was not knocked unconscious or disorientated at all.
There’s got to be more to that story there. Did he hit his head or something? Maybe not wearing his seat belt?
I T-boned a stop sign runner some years back, doing about 45 mph. From the “oh shit!” moment to the to the airbag deploying and deflating was maybe a second. No loss of consciousness. I know I never went out because I remember trying to steer to a stop on the road and not go through the guardrail and into the pond that was by the intersection. Blacking out in that particular accident could have easily been fatal.
The answer is yes, you can drive a car after an airbag deploys, and it is entirely possible that an airbag deployment without a seat belt on will not knock you unconscious, or at least not as unconscious as you already were when it deployed…