Possible to sue Ford?

[brandotron]

Die thread! Die!

[motorhead]

Originally Posted by a_Username

I'm not saying he should sue, but from the looks of the damages its apparent the airbags should have deployed. This wasn't your average fender-bender, considering the guy hit another car in the rear while going 60MPH.

Well, the fact is know one got hurt so the impact couldn't have been that bad.
I've been in wrecks that the air did deploy and still got hurt. What I'm saying is, it makes no sense at all to sue in this case other than to rob money off of ford.

If someone got hurt then I would say lets look at the black box in the car and investigate if the air bag should of deployed. If so ,then consider a lawsuit.

[chevy454]

Originally Posted by Number 3

Airbags don't go off based on speed, they go off based on decleration. The pictures show you had a bumper under ride. The vehicle ahead of you slammed on the brakes causing the nose to dive and the rear end to come up. You then braked hard causing your nose to dive lower than the bumper of the vehicle in front of you. This causes a much softer crash. Not saying it isn't serious, but people generally misunderstand what the sensors detect in order for the airbags to fire.

Also, airbags don't deploy if the vehicle is still rendered "controllable", ie steerable...if the bag were to deploy, while you were still moving & able to control the vehicle, your view would be blocked and could possibly lead to yet another accident [read "more liability"].

My father had a very similar accident several years ago...the above was the exact explanation given by the highway patrol.

[02 WS6 TA]

Originally Posted by brandotron

Die thread! Die!

Hell no, nothing else going on today.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by a_Username

The airbags should have deployed, IMO. You were going 60MPH and this looks to be a little more than a fender-bender. However, you should feel lucky you weren't hurt.

Our resident automotive engineer gave an explanation as to why it may look worse than it is.

Originally Posted by a_Username

I'm not saying he should sue, but from the looks of the damages its apparent the airbags should have deployed. This wasn't your average fender-bender, considering the guy hit another car in the rear while going 60MPH.

Looks like the front end absorbed a lot of energy to me, and the more energy it soaks up, the slower the car decelerates. And once the g-load is below a certain threshold, the airbags won't go off.

I can hit a car while going 100 mph, and not feel a thing ... if he is going 99 mph in the same direction. If they were going the other way at 100 mph I'd probably be dead. Your speed doesn't matter too much. Its the difference between your speed and whatever you hit thats important.

I don't know the all the details here, but the OP was going 60 mph. When the car in front had slammed on their brakes, they might have slowed down to say 45 mph and by the time the OP reacted he could only slow down to 55. A 10 mph crash is still fairly significant but likely below the threshold for setting off an airbag.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Our resident automotive engineer gave an explanation as to why it may look worse than it is.


Looks like the front end absorbed a lot of energy to me, and the more energy it soaks up, the slower the car decelerates. And once the g-load is below a certain threshold, the airbags won't go off.

I can hit a car while going 100 mph, and not feel a thing ... if he is going 99 mph in the same direction. If they were going the other way at 100 mph I'd probably be dead. Your speed doesn't matter too much. Its the difference between your speed and whatever you hit thats important.

I don't know the all the details here, but the OP was going 60 mph. When the car in front had slammed on their brakes, they might have slowed down to say 45 mph and by the time the OP reacted he could only slow down to 55. A 10 mph crash is still fairly significant but likely below the threshold for setting off an airbag.

I was aware that the more energy the front-end contained then it takes away from the impact, but I didn't know it was speed difference instead of just the speed that effects how an airbag deployed. Guess you learn something new everyday...

[8cd03gro]

You guys have to remember that airbags are not what the name makes you think. They feel like a bag of rocks when they hit you. Airbag deployment is based on a lot of factors because the automotive industry doesn't want airbags deploying in every little fender-bender. You would see people with injuries literally caused by the airbags all over the place which would be very bad for business.

[Rogue Leader]

If you weren't injured (or even if you were)the first thing they would go after is that brush guard, you modified the front end of the truck, the guard is not crash rated, the safety systems are designed to work as the car was built and not if the bumper was modified, done.

Don't bother.

[bigearl]

I got curious, so I started reading up on airbags. Others in this thread know more than I do but:

"The design is conceptually simple; a central "Airbag control unit" (ACU) (a specific type of ECU) monitors a number of related sensors within the vehicle, including accelerometers, impact sensors, side (door) pressure sensors, wheel speed sensors, gyroscopes, brake pressure sensors, and seat occupancy sensors. When the requisite 'threshold' has been reached or exceeded, the airbag control unit will trigger the ignition of a gas generator propellant to rapidly inflate a nylon fabric bag. As the vehicle occupant collides with and squeezes the bag, the gas escapes in a controlled manner through small vent holes. The airbag's volume and the size of the vents in the bag are tailored to each vehicle type, to spread out the deceleration of (and thus force experienced by) the occupant over time and over the occupant's body, compared to a seat belt alone."

I know it used to just be a contact sensor, but it sounds like now airbag sensors are measuring a bunch of things now and your accident simply didn't reach the threshold. The fact that everyone is OK seems to stand as proof.

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by EnvyTerra

You can sue for "almost" getting hurt now? lol how much is that worth 2-3 mil?

PLEASE don't sue them or say anything about this to anyone.

I really don't want to see the car companies forced to put any MORE warning lables on the cars.