How safe are your airbags?

If a minor collision sets off all 12 airbags in a 7 Series BMW it could well be written off.

Not because of the crash damage but because of the cost of replacing the airbag and seatbelt systems.

An Airbag Mobile Reset Service spokesman said the cost of replacing the airbags, the damaged trim and replacing the pre-tension seatbelts on a 7 Series could easily amount between $30,000 and $40,000. “I know of BMWs in Sydney that have been written off because of this cost,” the spokesman said.

Airbags are in the news as Australian road-safety campaigns are expanded, but British road safety group, the Guild of Experienced Motorists (GEM), says many people had no idea what happens when airbags deploy or the dangers the bags pose if occupants are unaware of their presence or operation.

GEM Motoring Assist says the airbag is a great safety feature and used in conjunction with a seatbelt can often prevent serious injury. But GEM boss David Williams says unless people have experience of the quick-inflating devices, drivers and passengers could panic in a crash.

GEM member Matt Day described his first experience of an airbag deploying when he and his wife were involved in a crash.

“We were thankful for the extremely fast deployment of the airbags,” Day said. “They seem to have deflated again before I realised they had inflated. What's more, the seatbelts did their job and we didn't get thrown forward.”

Day said that when the airbags inflated his car filled with smoke from the mini-explosion, which was necessary to deploy them.

“I could sense the car filling rapidly with smoke and my initial reaction was to get out. I screamed at my wife to get out, too.”

Day's reaction is typical but based on a lack of knowledge.

The airbags are inflated by a small explosion and white smoke or fine powder often fills the car because the airbags have a big hole in the base to allow gases to escape.

“The airbag has inflated and is already letting the air out of the big hole usually before the driver or passenger has hit them,” the AMRS spokesman says. “At the same time in most modern cars an explosive charge has gone off down by the seat where the seatbelt is mounted at the base of the seat. This pulls the seatbelt tight. So there can be lots of noise and the smell of burning which often frightens people.”

Airbag Mobile Reset Service website warns of airbag dangers.

“Airbags inflate in a fraction of a second and with great force. This means if the front-seat occupants of the car are not properly seated and strapped in with seatbelts or are obstructing an airbag compartment with part of their body, they may be injured. There have been reports in the US of children sitting in the front seat or lying in a rear-facing child restraint mounted in the front seat being crushed to death by airbags in low-speed accidents, which they might have otherwise survived."

“According to the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, it is common practice to carry small children in the front seat in the US and Europe. In Australia they're generally in the back because our child restraints usually can't be fitted in the front seat. As long as this doesn't change we shouldn't have the same problem with children being injured."

“However, Australian adults still need to be cautious — there have been reports in the US of airbags causing bruises, broken arms, eye damage and adult fatalities."

“But they do save lives. Despite the occasional problems, airbags in most cases do prevent serious injury and save lives. For example, General Motors Holden says there has been a 'dramatic' reduction in facial, head and chest injuries to occupants of airbag-equipped Commodores involved in accidents.

“The US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has also compared driver deaths in airbag-equipped cars with cars without airbags. The research found there were 23 per cent fewer deaths in airbag-equipped cars involved in frontal and front-angled crashes.”

Have you had any problems with your airbags? Let us know by filling out the bottom field.