The airbag: work, precautions, and price

In the event of a severe collision with the road, your car has airbags to soften the impact. If exposed, they can even save your life. An airbag is a membrane that inflates as a result of a chemical reaction. It works with sensors and an electronic computer that detects when it will fire.

🚗 How does a car airbag work?

Un air bag This is a pillow that is inflated with air or gas in the event of a strong impact on the road. The airbag is formed by a membrane into which air is injected after an almost instant chemical reaction.

You can find different types of airbags in your car:

• Thefrontal airbag : located for the driver at the helm and for the passenger above the glove compartment. A frontal airbag is a must-have equipment in Europe.
• Theside airbag : Deployment is carried out on the sides or under the ceiling.
• Theknee airbag : As the name suggests, it is located on the knees.

In the event of a collision with the road, the airbag is deployed in 5 stages:

1. La detection : the sensor is responsible for measuring the impact of an impact, called deceleration, and sending this information to the electronic unit;
2. Le Release : the signal is sent to the airbags;
3. Le deployment : the airbag is inflated by gas through the explosion and compressed gas system;
4. Thedepreciation : the airbag absorbs shocks;
5. Le deflation : The airbag deflates automatically.

It is assumed that all these actions take 150 milliseconds to run. Your vehicle is equipped with several airbags, but not all of them deploy simultaneously in the event of an impact. The sensors are used to determine which airbags need to be activated.

?? How does an airbag deploy?

The airbag trigger system is based on an element called calculating... It is usually located at the dashboard level.

The computer performs several tasks: detecting alarms, detecting signals sent by sensors, turning on the airbag ignition circuit, turning on the airbag warning light in the event of a system malfunction, etc.

Before a car goes to market, it goes through a series of tests, including crash tests that simulate different types of accidents. During these crash tests, the computer records information to later determine the severity of the crash. This information also interferes with data such as the wearing seat belt.

Thus, the calculator classifies the types of accidents into 4 categories:

• Shock 0 : minor accident, no airbag deployment required.
• Shock 1 : the accident is a little more serious, some airbags can be activated in the first level.
• Shock 2 : the accident is serious, the airbags deploy at the first level.
• Shock 3 : the accident is very serious, all airbags deploy on the first and second level.

🔍 To what speed does the airbag deploy?

Airbag can deploy at minimum speed 15km / h, depending on the severity of the shock. Indeed, the airbag detection system, for example, is able to distinguish between a damaged road, road operation and a real road accident.

🚘 Is the airbag part of your vehicle's active or passive safety features?

The elements that make up the active safety of your car are elements aimed at preventing accidents. For example, ABS system, ESP system, cruise control, reversing radar, GPS or Start and Stop system.

Conversely, your vehicle's passive safety system is designed to protect you when an accident is imminent. Thus, the seat belt, airbags and eCall are part of the passive safety system.

(I.e. What precautions should you take when using airbags?

Even though airbags are designed to provide protection in the event of a violent collision with the road, it is important to follow a few guidelines:

• Check your airbags every xnumx years O. However, be careful: when you check the airbags, the mechanic only checks the electronic part. If the airbag membrane is damaged, it cannot be detected.
• If you are a driver, hold on 25cm between you and the steering wheel.
• If you are a passenger, do not lean on the sides of the seat or rest your feet on the dashboard, which could be even more serious if the airbag is deployed.
• Always wear your safety beltif the airbag is deployed, this allows the seat to be pressed down to avoid a too sudden collision with the airbag.
• If you put the child car seat on the passenger seat, always remember to deactivate the passenger airbags.

🔧 How to reprogram an airbag computer?

Once struck, regardless of whether or not it touches the airbags, your airbag computer may fail. Locked... Therefore it is necessary Reset... To reprogram the airbag computer, you must visit the garage. Indeed, you should have the right software to clean your computer of the error codes that it previously recorded.

?? How much does it cost to replace an airbag?

If you have been the victim of a traffic accident and your airbags have deployed, you will have no choice but to replace them. Indeed, airbags are disposable. Unfortunately, airbag replacement is a very expensive procedure that can go from 2000 € to 4000 € depending on the number of deployed airbags.

Now you know how an airbag works in your car! It plays an important role in safety, although it is not required on the vehicle. Therefore, it is important to replace it in case of malfunction or disconnection.