Punto Evo Newbie - Airbag Help

[Molly55]

Hi there, new to this forum and just looking for some help if possible. Replaced my 12 year old Punto with a new 2010 Punto Evo 1.4 at end of May 2012. Loved it and had it for all of 2 weeks until I was involved in a rear shunt which resulted in car being written off. Car hit me which then shunted me into car in front involving a total of 5 cars. Car was completely crumpled and twisted.

Despite the double impact my seatbelt tensioner did not work (ended up in passenger seat next to rear window wiper) and my airbags did not deploy resulting in me breaking my face and ribs against the steering wheel. Has anyone heard of anything like this before? I really need to know why they wouldn't have deployed considering all other cars involved airbags deployed including the Punto in front of me given that my car took the majority of the impact. I know my car was recalled in 2010 for airbag software issues!!

Any info would be most appreciated.

Thanks
Molly

 

[T14086]

Sorry to hear of your accident however I believe the information you require (possibly for legal reasons?) is beyond this scope of this forum and you really need to talk with your insurance company or the car manufacture themselves.

 

[Molly55]

Thanks, tried that and hit a brick wall. Feel free to delete this post if you think keeping it on here would be an issue.
Thanks
Molly

 

[T14086]

Thanks, tried that and hit a brick wall. Feel free to delete this post if you think keeping it on here would be an issue.
Thanks
Molly

Thinking about this, airbag wont detonate in event of rear end shunt for obvious reasons. Recall was for side impact sensor, not related to your case.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

What you've described doesn't make any sense unless you weren't wearing a seat belt, and if the accident was around a month ago then there hasn't been much time to iron out the details of the accident amoungst the insurance companies and solicitors.

Essentially who ever caused the accident is to blame for any injury unless injuries were exacerbated by not using things like the seat belts properly

 

[Molly55]

Yeah I know its strange and I was wearing my seatbelt. The guy involved admitted liability right away and insurance is settling now. As far as solicitors are concerned they are dealing with uninsured losses and personal injuries and that will take months to iron out.

I'm not looking to sue anyone as a result of this, it was just one of those things and I was lucky I was the only one hurt and it could have been worse. I suppose my direct question should have been what needs to happen to my car to activate the air bags (minimum speed, impact direction etc) as everyone is surprised they didn't go off. I have found a good website that goes into a lot of detail about that which helped and answered a lot.

My dad said to ask on here as I kept bugging him. I'm going to get another Punto Evo as I loved it. Not many people get to buy 2 new cars within the space of a month .

 

[Andy Monty]

Sorry to hear of your bump.....

All the modern car safety features are not perfect but the best that can be done..... The cars rely on a host of sensors receiving the correct data to fire the air bags / pre-tensioners after all if they were too sensitive hitting a big pothole would set them off for example.... they are designed for frontal impact (or side if fitted) based on de-acceleration and or impact at set rates by the sounds of it you was nearly stationary when you was smacked from behind so your deceleration would have been practically nothing. It is worth remembering that Airbags can cause serious injury's and burns due to their inherent power





Hope you have a speedy recovery :wave:

Ps how many people have been winding you up with this track recently



:devil:

 

[Molly55]

Sorry to hear of your bump.....

All the modern car safety features are not perfect but the best that can be done..... The cars rely on a host of sensors receiving the correct data to fire the air bags / pre-tensioners after all if they were too sensitive hitting a big pothole would set them off for example.... they are designed for frontal impact (or side if fitted) based on de-acceleration and or impact at set rates by the sounds of it you was nearly stationary when you was smacked from behind so your deceleration would have been practically nothing. It is worth remembering that Airbags can cause serious injury's and burns due to their inherent power


Airbag Test - YouTube


Hope you have a speedy recovery :wave:

Ps how many people have been winding you up with this track recently

Cedric Gervais - Molly (Radio Edit) + DOWNLOAD LINK!!!! - YouTube

:devil:

Thanks for that just what I was looking for. Only being 5ft 1 I'm sure the airbag would have given me a hefty slap had it deployed. Looking forward to getting my new Evo and be happy once I pass the 2 week ownership mark

 

[Manuel88]

Hi Molly,

Sorry to hear about your injuries.

I did Automotive Engineering at university with a couple of modules on crash safety and crash dynamics and work in the industry now. The type of crash you're describing is a bit of a pain when it comes to airbags.

The sensors are based around accelerometers, but due to you having almost simultaneous rear then front impacts it's possible they've cancelled each other out. Had it been front impact first, then rear, the airbag would have deployed as the sensors for the steering wheel airbag (and passenger) are designed to look for an acceleration in a certain direction and range.

As for the seatbelt tensioner/locking retractor, I'm a bit surprised, as they are designed to work in ANY kind of impact. The basic designs hasn't really changed since the early 90s.

Think yourself lucky though, had the airbag gone off with your seatbelt allowing you to move forward that much & that quickly you'd have been right in the deployment area when it went off and far more seriously injured.

Jeez, and I thought my lecturer put a bit of a downer on things when he went through this stuff, haha. Glad to hear you're after another one though, Puntos are right up there in most aspect and really under-rated.