She lived... but my opinion on air bags has changed

[Mortious]

While I agree with your post, Im not sure a side airbag would have helped much in this situation, especially if she had someone riding with her. Im afraid looking at where the passenger seat ended up, that her passenger would have been dead, again just an opinion. Its shocking how much damage was done to that car, and it scares the hell out of me because my wife had one identical to that when we first got married.

Hope your daughter recovers fully.

[JasonK]

Wow...... My daughter just turned 14 and started driving....... I couldn't imagine how you must have felt when you first seen what she went through. Hugs to her.

[kyle@ridetech.com]

Wow.... Just wow......

[Donald]

Miracle she is alive. Thank God. Amazing no one died.

[VTSummit]

I doubt the pass side airbag would have helped if it had one. That's a hit that is a bit more than side airbags can handle. Had there been a passenger, it's likely it would not have been survivable- and the presence of a passenger in this case could have even made it worse for the driver.
I hope she has a speedy recovery!

[Sapper12b]

It takes a lot for me to cringe and i mean a lot, but i cringed at every single one of your photos. Thank God that your daughter is alive, it is unfortunate that she has to go through surgery but she is still alive. I feel that having air bags in the car would have deminished her severity of injuries. Your daught might have still had broken bones but not as many, she might have still spent a few days in the hospital but not need metal plates in her face. In the end she is still alive and thats the most important thing, she is still alive.

[Dizzy82]

Yikes!

[Scalded Dog]

The kind words and comments are much appreciated, my friends.

Indeed, I do not believe that a passenger would have had any chance of survival... so glad that she was rolling solo. No matter what the safety features on a car, ant passenger would have died, from any number of reasons.

And, it's debatable whether or not side- airbags would have diminished my daughter's injuries. All we can do there is speculate. Maybe they would have helped, maybe not.

However, the one thing that I am absolutely certain of is that from now on, all of my kids will be in cars that have as many airbags as possible. While I've always believed strongly in airbags' safety, my (now- changed) opinion had been that we could still drive older cars... because, hey, what are the real odds of being in a horrific accident?

The NEXT accident might be a head- on, or a rollover, or a door ding in a parking lot. I only know that from this point on, my gambling days are over: I'm cashing in my chips while I am still ahead. Risking a less- safe car, because I got a good deal on it, is no longer an option. I'll pay more for a car, but maximizing the odds of survival, for whatever flavor the next accident comes in, is my only goal now in selecting a car for my loved ones.

[Bizaro]

Buy her a H1 so you can sleep at night.

[VTSummit]

Give her the Camaro and you get a new one. Problem solved!

[MrChrisLS3]

Wow, I'm glad your daughter survived this. I'm guessing somebody ran a red light? That Navigator had to be coming at her at a good clip.

Airbags are definitely life savers, however, my real take away from scenes like this is stop running red lights, put down the phone, and pay attention and drive the car!

There is no place you have to be that is so important that stopping for 2 min at a light will change. There is no text or call that so important that it can't wait a few minutes for us to get off the road, or to our destination. It's not going to alter our lives, but running that light, or taking that call or reading that text, certainly can alter if not end our lives, and the lives of many others, in that instant!

So if you floor it at yellow lights, text or talk when you're driving, stop it!

[pyroguy]

Wow! I'm glad to hear that she is "ok", or at minimum alive! I had a friend that was in a similar accident in high school, only problem was that she was in the passenger seat in the accident like this... Her friend pulled out to cross a highway and said that they couldn't see the copper colored S10 because at the time of day the sun was low enough that it blended right in. To this day he has no recollection of the accident because he has lost his short term memory because of head trauma he sustained.

Airbags are great things, and likely saved my wife a couple of years ago when she got hit by a drunk driver. However, they are not guaranteed life savers. Best of luck to your daughter and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[IBM]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

I doubt the pass side airbag would have helped if it had one. That's a hit that is a bit more than side airbags can handle. Had there been a passenger, it's likely it would not have been survivable- and the presence of a passenger in this case could have even made it worse for the driver.
I hope she has a speedy recovery!

Originally Posted by Mortious

While I agree with your post, Im not sure a side airbag would have helped much in this situation, especially if she had someone riding with her. Im afraid looking at where the passenger seat ended up, that her passenger would have been dead, again just an opinion. Its shocking how much damage was done to that car, and it scares the hell out of me because my wife had one identical to that when we first got married.

Hope your daughter recovers fully.

True, side airbags may not have made a whole lot of difference in this case, but I feel like a modern car with better structure, better safety ratings could have potentially handled the impact a lot better. That's just a blind speculation though, I wasn't there.

[USCAMARO14]

Glad she is doing find.