2fst4u

Hi Everyone,

I was involved in a rather moderate accident in my 2002 TLS a few weeks ago. I did walk away from it without any serious injuries, however I'm very disappointed with the airbag technology as present in the Acura 3.2TL series vehicles.

Accident overview: It was a snow day here in Toronto, roads were snow covered and slipery. I was travelling south bound on a road, no significant traffic, my speed averaged between 45 - 55 Km/H (posted limit 70 Km/H). While approaching an intersection I noticed a car waiting the left turn lane. About 20 meters before entering the intersection this guy decides to pull a left turn and stop in the MIDDLE of the intersection. Given the road conditions, I was not able to avoid him or stop in time.. The speed of impact was between 45 Km/H to 55 Km/H.. In any event, the driver of the other vehicle was charged.

I really don't care what happens to the car at this point, but it has made me wonder about the safety of TLs...Specifically the airbags..

I have attached two pictures, have a look. Pay close attention that the majority of damage done was done to the front-left. Now take a look at the picture of the interior. Note that the passenger airbag was deployed.

Doesn't make sense to me... I called Honda Canada. They sent an a safety expert to evaluate the car, and basically they told me that every thing was working.. I don't buy it. According to him there are pyrotechnics which retract and lock seatbelts upon "rapid decelleration". As a result of the two stage, dual threshold airbag control unit in the TL, the airbags have a higher threshold of deployment when a seatbelt is used. Isn't the whole point of an airbag to provide secondary restraint to an occupant? My question to them was, what would happen if the primary restraint system (ie. seatbelt would of failed), when would the secondary restraint system kick in. They didn't have an answer.

Any feedbacks and comments are greatly apprechiated.. If requested I can fully document the Honda engineer's responce, however I think the pics speak for them selves...

RAdams

By no means am I an expert, but assuming what they said was true about the airbags having two deployment threshholds based on seat belt usage -- doesn't it stand to reason that the airbag on the passenger's side (assuming the seat wasn't being used and the belt wasn't buckled) would deploy where the driver's side one might not? Perhaps the driver's side airbag would have also deployed had you not been wearing your seatbelt.

nym31mp

wow hey mna im glad u r ok thats the most important thing i ma no expert either but i have twice been in accidents with driver/pass air bags and the both deployed not sure how they r set up but i def think they should bith come out maube its a defect have u ever had any aftermarket stuff done cause sometimes the after market places will start toi cut and splice wires to hook up other things to it ex lights,alarm etc....i used to have a blazer and what happened when the jerks at some place installed the alarm they cut a wire the one that powered up the air bag and luckally the dealer cuaght it and fixed it before anything could happen but yea man i would def persue this most def good luck keep us posted....and glad to hear u r fine stay safe and sue the guy/girl who hit u and use his/her money to buy an A-Spec when it comes out LOL....peace

fsttyms1

i dont see any thing wrong, if thats the way they have it set up thats the way it is. look at it this way you are saving alot of money by the driverside not deploying. a big misconception is that airbaigs are supposed to go off in a accident but thats not always true. it all depends on the crash. most air baigs work on decelerometers, and now with multi staging and different types of sensors now in the seats and belts they are much more sofisticated. and a seat belt failing? most unlikely.

2fst4u

To answer previous posts.. No I did not have any after market parts..

I have to disagree that the airbag that does not deploy saves money. Where I come from I don't put a price on human life, especially my own.

Why is it unlikely that the seat belt fail?

Most manufactures change their seat belt mechanisms from model to model even year to year.. These TL-type, G35, A4 type cars are version 1 production, regardless of the model, and I guess because I'm in IT, I really have no confidence in v1.0 products..

r10apple

By no means am I an expert either, but handling various insurance claims of serious significance-including product liability claims-and reconstructing tons of accident scenarios (with engineers), I can tell you your accident (and no offense) is very minor...

Airbags do have staged sensors and theories of decceleration and weight in the seats (I have heard about seat weights since 2001) make a difference in deployment...

Further, the angle of the impact and force at impact have more to do with the deployment than anything...More often then not, angular impacts (meaning those outside of the basic 90 degree "t-bone") under 30 to 35mph often keep the airbag from deploying...Remember, an airbag is a "catastrophic" defense system...If it were always going off in minor collisions, you'd be getting popped in the face for basically nothing and you could be more hurt from the bag than a collision.

I have probably handled more than 500 fatality claims in my life and many have come from airbags themselves-not the mere collision aspect. Further, I have handled many products claims for the bag in incident seriously more severe than yours, and for manufacturers who have pending litigation over systematic airbag failures. Suffice is to say, Acura is not one of them.

Seriously, looking at your picture and hearing your story, I wouldn't worry one bit over your collision...

stiletto

I too find it troubling that the passenger (seat empty at time of accident, correct?) AB would deploy and not the driver's.

The driver's side should always deploy (based on impact, speed, and whatever other variable is used for deployment purposes), be it a secondary or terciary safety mechanisim. The term is supplemental restraint. If the passenger side is not being used, then there is no restraint that needs a supplement.

The driver's side is almost always being used, thus, the need to supplement the seatbelt with an additional restraint.

At 140 mph in ss 4th, what does it matter, though?

Right...? I am so confused.