Do airbags deploy if the car is turned off?

[Rebasxer]

Just wondering if I was sitting in my car and someone ran into me while the car wasn't on, would my airbags still deploy?

 

[Zenmervolt]

No.

ZV

 

[mh47g]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
No.

ZV

Someone would have to hit you at 130 miles an hour straight on to match you going 65mph head on into someone else going 65mph towards you..

I'm not sure what the point of this is, but basically, the moon is gray.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: mh47g

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
No.

ZV

Someone would have to hit you at 130 miles an hour straight on to match you going 65mph head on into someone else going 65mph towards you..

I'm not sure what the point of this is, but basically, the moon is gray.

It takes a lot less than 65mph to make airbags deploy... lol

 

[Bill Brasky]

Interesting question. Is the engine off, but the key in the ignition?

 

[Rebasxer]

Engine is off. Key is still in.

 

[Regs]

So that sceen in the new die hard movie was fake? The one where the kid hit the car with the trash can so bruce willis couldnt disable the car?

 

[IronWing]

Only one way to find out, isn't there? Off you go. We expect a full report when/if you return.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Rebasxer
Engine is off. Key is still in.

Nope, won't deploy that way at all.

 

[Journer]

i'm pretty sure they go off. the way i understand it, most airbags work off of a stabilized pendulum and when it hits a certain angle (lets say, i duno > 20degrees) it sets it off. i recall seeing a video where i guy hits a parked car with a sledge hammer and the bag goes off. the problem is, i think most airbags only go off at 25+ mph, so, how many parked cars are going to get hit going faster than that?
edit:

i could be wrong, maybe this is just older cars. i would think newer cars have a safety feature considering they have weight sensors in the seats now.

 

[slayer202]

seems dumb if it doesn't deploy

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: slayer202
seems dumb if it doesn't deploy

car off = no electronic sensors creating signals

 

[BoomerD]

Yes...they can still go off.

I've had to work inside the steering columns of a couple of air-bag equipped cars, and they are considered "live" until you unhook the battery.

In years gone by, kids used to run around at night with sledgehammers whacking cars on the bumpers just to set the airbag off for people. (fucking bastards)

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Yes...they can still go off.

I've had to work inside the steering columns of a couple of air-bag equipped cars, and they are considered "live" until you unhook the battery.

In years gone by, kids used to run around at night with sledgehammers whacking cars on the bumpers just to set the airbag off for people. (fucking bastards)

I guess that makes sense, as a power source being connected to the circuit and completing it makes the circuit live, even if no current is being drawn. Accidental juice flow would likely happen on occasion, possibly a result of environmental conditions?

 

[BoomerD]

Hmmm...from wikipedia:

Removing the car battery does not deactivate the air bags.


i'm gonna have to see if I still have my old BMW service manual...but I think my son has it. (he has the car)

 

[TruePaige]

Yes, it can still go off. I've seen it done in testing.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

yup, auto shop at my old tech school would set one off in front of the freshman every year to demonstrate just how much energy is in one.

 

[CatchPhrase]

depends on the car

 

[CatchPhrase]

depends on car

 

[cmdrmoocow]

Dodge 96-99 caravan service manual says that they're live until you unhook the battery. YMMV with your particular car of choice.

 

[CatchPhrase]

depends on car

 

[CatchPhrase]

depends on car

 

[CatchPhrase]

depends on the car

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
No.

ZV

Zemmer, do you have an example model you're thinking of?


When I worked at GM, we designed the power feed for that system to definitely be active even when the engine is off. This was for the BOC platform cars. Reason being, that during a collision, the state of the engine can be indeterminate. These are activated from a micromachined accelerometer, sensing sudden acceleration (positive or negative) i.e. collision.
I certainly would want it that way if I were behind the wheel.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Hmmm...from wikipedia:

Removing the car battery does not deactivate the air bags.


i'm gonna have to see if I still have my old BMW service manual...but I think my son has it. (he has the car)

Wikipedia is only partially right. Ford had a recall on Taurus airbags some years ago. The prodedure to deactivate was to disconnect the battery, then step on the brake pedal for a few seconds to discharge the remaining power in the airbag module.

Then it was dead.

But regarding the OP's question, airbags are not supposed to go off when the car is OFF...and by OFF, I'm interpreting that as the car is turned off and the key is out of the ignition....not they engine has stalled but the key is still "on".....they'll definitely still go off if your engine dies during an accident.

Unless things have changed, they're not supposed to fire under a certain speed...25 or 35 mph.
I've seen several wrecks under those speeds without airbag deployment.


And regarding setting one off....they are unbelievably powerful. We took one of the old recalled ones and set it off...it was facing towards the ground. It shot up and draped itself over a power line above it. :shocked: