[theMAG]

hellspawn,

I'm curious whether your friend was smoking at the time

[diabloo]

Hey, nice crack. Good job.

Originally Posted by spadival

Obviously.. To find the reason for the accident, his father would have got a better response if he had written to the bartender and asked him how many pegs his son has downed before getting into the car.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by theMAG

hellspawn,

I'm curious whether your friend was smoking at the time

good question but im sure he may not remember ( i mean hellspawn's friend )...

HS - was there any other burn damages in the rest of the car ?

[Rtech]

Take a look at this pic:


That is a 2nd degree burn. Not too bad is it. Something you would get if you touched a hot vessel by mistake. Surely better than fixing a broken nose I would think.

Now, do all those against airbags still maintain their stand?

[srishiva]

If you read the owner's manual one other thing you should see in there is that you should sit as far away as possible from the steering wheel (your face importantly).

[madan80]

were th burns caused because of cigarettes? there is a direct co-relation between smoking and drinking right?
just a thought...

But on a serious note- there have been several articles about how dangerous air-bags are- that they suffocate people etc etc. still, the bottom line would be that they still save lives.

[gbpscars]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

3. Remember how we were always instructed to keep our hands at the "10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions ? Nowadays, the rule is 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock, and airbag deployment is the reason.

i'm safe, as my hands are mostly at 4.40 most of the time after switching to a power steering vehicle, except when the vehicle is moving in stop-start traffic.

[rubin2006]

I Cant agree any more with Rtech and the same thing came to my mind Guys after reading this ITs 100 Times Better to have hands burnt like this Rather than BROKEN RIBBS OR CRUSHED JAWS

[akash_m]

Though slightly off topic, was just curious to know what happens to the Airbags once they inflate? I mean does the car need to go to workshop to get them working again. Also, I suppose considerable amount of facia/ part of steerring wheel is damaged once the airbags are deployed.

If so, what is the cost involved..?

[rockrider]

I hope this puts the debate into a perspective.

There is no denying the point that says Airbag should be deployed when there is a crash. As Duda points out that the airbag has to be deflated after that but not burst.

somebody says 100 lives saved at the cost of 2, the system perhaps should be inplace. yes true. but what is stopping from a better system whose faliure rate is much lower than 2 in 100?

RTech.. totally agreed that 2nd degree burn is better than a broken rib. But a ill functioning system is still an ill functioning system. The drunken driver perhaps deserves a second degree burn (before he runs over innocent people).. but that doesnt change anything about an illfunctioning system.

having said that a crash is a crash. you can only hope for less damage than no damage. Airbag+seatbelt is supposed to just reduce the impact. It is no water bed.

Let me reframe a the question? Is this case of 2nd degree burn an acceptable level of damage control. Arent there better systems in place (may be at a higher price) that can be offered by the manufacturers.

[Revvhead]

het R-tech. Those proper 2nd degree??
i thought they were more 1st second mix??

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

2nd degree burns are very superficial and minor. See Burn (injury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The skin may develop a blister, but certainly not a serious injury, when compared to the kind of injury caused by drinking by itself (NOT drinking and driving - that is a different story).

[shyamhegde]

dadu's post explained the airbag systems nicely, thanks for the education. Now I know why they cost so much!

Originally Posted by bblost

a couple of questions..

1. Speed
2. Seatbelts

High speed, the air bag saved his life.
No seat belt, he took the entire impact of the airbag.

The car has multiple systems to protect you.
You need to use them all.

I read on the user manual of my brother in law's Swift that the airbags won't function if seat belt is not worn. Is it the case in all the vehcles equipped with airbags?

[supremeBaleno]

hellspawn, your friend should thank his lucky stars that he is alive (because of the airbags). And his Dad is bent on getting an explanation from Honda, about the burns on poor Bunty who chose to ram into a pole or whatever while drunk to the gills ? I mean, give us a break.

And maybe, as spadival rightly said, his Dad should be checking with the bartender and not with Honda.

P.S.: This is not to say that I have not driven/ridden drunk. I have and yes, I know it was wrong. And if I had got blisters due to an accident while drunk, my Dad would have personally ensured that they got transformed into 3rd or 4th degree burns (instead of going around asking Suzuki or Matsumoto or whoever for an explanation).

[IMP]

If the Airbags deployed, then the impact must be substantial. and no injuries other than burns, well... he is a lucky chap, who doesn't know that he is. To top it he asks Honda for an explanation for the burns. All i can say is, good luck!