Airbags Could Cost You a Digit
Pittsburgh psychiatrist Ken Thompson plans to file a lawsuit against BMW for the near loss of his thumb. While driving in his 2006 325xi, Thompson honked the horn when a car pulled in front of him. The vehicles collided, the airbag deployed and Thompson’s thumb was “just basically hanging.”
Although the thumb was reattached, he still experiences pain and partial loss of function. Thompson maintains that the horn’s position directly over the airbag, instead of on the rim of the steering wheel, caused his injury.
It turns out, losing a digit or suffering other injuries to the hands and arms as a result of airbag deployment is rare but highly possible. William Smock, an ER doctor at the University of Louisville Hospital, said he’s seen about 25 such injuries over the past decade. He advocates including a warning label near the steering wheel, saying that would make people more likely to keep their arms clear of the airbag during an accident.
He also said he believes this type of accident may be underreported because there's no agency or advocacy group gathering statistical information on this kind of injury.
Still, it’s important to remember that any number of lost digits must be measured against the thousands of lives airbags save every year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration allows horns to be placed over airbags largely because this is the easiest place to access the horn, so it could prevent an accident from happening. Yet NHTSA does warn passengers about being too close to airbags.
Now you know: During an accident, keep your arms clear of the airbag.
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"Now you know: During an accident, keep your arms clear of the airbag"
Now this is interesting. Accident means it is things that happened not of expectation. Not only that, when the accident happens, we are most likely having our hands on the steering wheel and that's where the driver's airbag located.
So we should let go of the wheel?
Would Mr. Thompson have been better off if his car didn't have an airbag? Maybe he would rather have smashed his face on the steering wheel? Or maybe a concussion and/skull fracture is better? Thumbs are cool, but brains are more important!
next they're going to be suing over seat belts that get too tight and caused a burn when the vehicle is stopped quickly
Maybe Ford really did have a good idea when they put the horn button on the end of the turn signal stalk back in the day.
What if a person is wearing glasses or sunglasses? What is the extent of the damage for having them driven into your face by the airbag?
I've always wondered ...
GR,
I tried it.
I didn't have any injuries due to the sunglasses. But it was like a 10mph vehicle being crashed by a 50mph vehicle.
50 mustang mpg t-boned a 35mph hyundai elantra (me).
My glasses were thrown off my face, they weren't even slightly damaged. Weird, I know.
Arms, on the other hand, were scraped, bleeding and burned from the airbag.
I was wearing my seatbelt but it did not catch me, my head slammed into the steering wheel THEN the airbag went off, throwing my body back in the seat and, according to the EMT, keeping me from going through the windshield.
Damaged arms, or becoming road pizza? Not a hard decision there.
when a car pulls up too close in front, instinct should have told you to use the brakes. honking will not prevent the vehicle from slamming into the other vehicle. only the brakes can do that. maybe BMW should put a braking device on the horn for this guy since his first instinct was to honk rather than brake.