Your Next Car Could Have Airbags That Inflate on the Outside (popularmechanics.com) 97
German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG has spent 10 years working on external airbags for cars, according to Popular Mechanics, and "The tech is finally ready for carmakers -- that is, if ZF can convince them to buy it."
With ZF's system, each side sill (the outside bodywork underneath the car doors) packs one airbag that runs the full length of the doors. Sensors on the car will watch out for any objects that look likely to slam into the side of the car. When the computers decide a crash is imminent and unavoidable, they deploy from the side sill, revealing the airbag. In no more than 100 milliseconds, inflators pump up the airbag to the height of a typical front bumper.
One advantage of outside airbags is that they disperse the forces of impact. An oncoming car about the slam into the side of your vehicle would strike with the relatively small surface area of its front bumperâ"and an even smaller surface if it strikes at an angle. But when a car hits an inflated airbag, the impact force is spread through the airbag and along the length of the vehicle's side structure, which reduces energy loads. ZF says its tech reduces intrusions into the passenger cabin by 30 up to percent, and reduces injury levels by 20 to 30 percent.
One advantage of outside airbags is that they disperse the forces of impact. An oncoming car about the slam into the side of your vehicle would strike with the relatively small surface area of its front bumperâ"and an even smaller surface if it strikes at an angle. But when a car hits an inflated airbag, the impact force is spread through the airbag and along the length of the vehicle's side structure, which reduces energy loads. ZF says its tech reduces intrusions into the passenger cabin by 30 up to percent, and reduces injury levels by 20 to 30 percent.
Nah (Score:2, Funny)
I drive a mattress with wheels already called a Cadillac.
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slow speed collisions (Score:3)
Re: slow speed collisions (Score:3, Insightful)
Cost of repairing a deployed airbag is around $1500 EACH. This is not going to save anybody from the cost of a repair.
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Somehow I think creating a child catapult not that good an idea. Kids run around and often do not pay attention and run into things, having that thing catapult them into the air, probably an extremely bad idea. Well at least they did not run, into the car ?!?
I doubt it (Score:1)
A replacement airbag typically costs $1000+. And since these are exterior airbags, they're going to be bigger and thicker to deal with the higher impact loads,
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I imagine getting the airbags reset will be pretty expensive too. The only benefit is reduced harm to the passengers.
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Not the first (Score:2)
About 2 decades ago, I watched some news coverage of innovative (but not really serious) ideas university students came up with to 'enhance' safety of vehicles.
The one that stood out to me was a modified van that, upon detecting it was going to crash head-on into something, would flip its bumper down, from which inflatable arms and hands came out to 'brace' itself for the impact.
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Personal car ownership is a sad thing.
External airbags would make even more sense when combined with Uber/Lyft/Taxis and/or on-demand SDCs.
The cost would be spread across more miles.
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Let's see you take the subway into the mountains to mine for your work.
You're a perfect candidate for r/iamverysmart
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It's cool. Just don't buy any food that comes from farmers who drive a car. Or people who manufacture things. Maybe like subway cars.
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Better. Automatically deploy the external airbags whenever the car alarm gets triggered. Suddenly smash-and-grab robbery gets a lot more dangerous, complete with falling glass launched at the attacker's face at high speeds. How soon can we get them installed on every car in the Bay Area?
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Better. Automatically deploy the external airbags whenever the car alarm gets triggered.
99.9% of car alarms are false positives.
I had mine disabled by the dealership. They told me a lot of people ask for that.
Even better for protecting pedestrians and cyclist (Score:2)
Reducing cabin intrusion is obviously a good thing (except in the stabbin' cabin) but if it is that effective at protecting from automobile impact, imagine how far it could launch a pedestrian!
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imagine how far it could launch a pedestrian!
An impact with an airbag will injure a pedestrian less than an impact with the bumper.
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And it'll injure the bumper less, too.
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I don't know how effective or how many tanks use it, but I've heard of similar tech used to help protect tanks.
External airbags have been deployed on some military vehicles. They do nothing against kinetic energy weapons, such as sabot penetrators, but they disrupt Munroe-effect warheads, and can prevent some weapons with inertial fuses from detonating, including RPGs.
race tested? (Score:1)
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Well that escalated quickly.
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I'd love 5-points harnesses in passenger cars. They'd make airbags completely unnecessary. Would reduce cost too. Replacing airbags adds a lot to repair costs, can even total a 8+ year old car that would have been otherwise repairable.
But the market finds them too bothersome and there's also an issue with overweight passengers.
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The regulations say 3 point belt, has to be 3 point belt.
It's kind of ridiculous when you consider motorcycles exist (thank god we're still allowed *some* personal choices) and just about anything else is safer.
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You don't need internal air bags if you have all that other stuff. Other safety features that work in racing include strapping the helmeted head to an attachment point, big neck pillows, and wearing fireproof clothing, but those measures were also deemed to be too inconvenient for daily use. Sure, internal air bags can cause harm in some situations, but they also can reduce injury when drivers eschew other safety equipment, like their seat belt.
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You don't need internal air bags if you have all that other stuff. Other safety features that work in racing include strapping the helmeted head to an attachment point, big neck pillows, and wearing fireproof clothing, but those measures were also deemed to be too inconvenient for daily use. Sure, internal air bags can cause harm in some situations, but they also can reduce injury when drivers eschew other safety equipment, like their seat belt.
Yeah, those are the tradeoffs we make as consumers. Ultimately, it's safest to avoid accidents... drive more defensively.
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Race cars don't crash head-on into an oncoming truck.
No, they crash head-on into immovable walls, especially on tracks with inadequate runoffs, like road courses.
All racers go the same direction and are roughly the same weight.
And are going much, much faster than is legal on roads in most situations.
Less need for 'consumer protections'
Is that why more safety equipment is mandatory in racing? Because there's less need for it?
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"The safety features that work in racing are cages, seats, harnesses & helmets. Internal airbags haven't found their way into racing cars."
So what? Might it be racing cars and transport cars have different requirements?
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"The safety features that work in racing are cages, seats, harnesses & helmets. Internal airbags haven't found their way into racing cars."
So what? Might it be racing cars and transport cars have different requirements?
Racing cars is historically where road car technology was tested. There's certainly a spectrum of safety requirements. If we label racing car safety as "safest", where on that spectrum are road going cars currently? It's certainly improved, but ultimately convenience wins out.
2012+ Volvo V40 Already has one (Score:5, Informative)
Slow (Score:2)
100ms is a very long time.
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That's what I thought at first, but keep in mind this is preemptive, deploying a second before the collision, rather than reactive like normal airbags, only deploying after a collision.
Magnets (Score:2)
Enjoy the ownership cost increase. (Score:1)
So every near-misses and door dents we'll have to pay over $2000 for replacement doors, airbags, and labour. That's going to be great for people who can barely afford a car.
Because once it's a "safety device" it has to be in perfect condition for the car to be allowed on the road. Parking lot scrapes that would have been an otherwise innocuous door dent and a good pull with a suction cup will now require an expensive repair and airbag replacement. The manufacturer can charge a maximum because it has to be c
Beach balls (Score:1)
How big of a beach ball do I have to kick toward the car for the airbags to detect "a large fast incoming object" and deploy, costing $1500+ to replace?
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So every near-misses and door dents we'll have to pay over $2000
Worse than that. It'll turn near misses into hits.
That pedestrian timing crossing the street perfectly? Now on his arse and costing you money.
The cyclist coming down your near side when you're trying to turn? Yep, you're definitely getting her now.
That small child you successfully slammed on the brakes and avoided by mere mm? Now you get to punt it down the street.
I'll skip this one thanks.
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What if someone threw a beach ball at the car? (Score:1)
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Body work (Score:2)
When I got in a fender bender, my car was nearly totalled from the airbag deploy. I have a feeling this is primarily intended to bring in more body work.
30 up to percent (Score:2)
ZF says its tech reduces intrusions into the passenger cabin by 30 up to percent
A done well job, EditorDavid.
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I like (Score:2)
Anyhow, if they can implement this without making the cars look too weird, and manage to keep the things from getting clogged with road dirt, this could be quite cool.
Saves repair money? Maybe not. (Score:2)
On the surface, this sounds like a good idea if only because the smallest scratch on the exterior of a car now costs over $1000 to repair. The side airbags could prevent some of this damage, at least with slow-speed collisions and scrapes. The only problem is that it also costs about $1000 to replace an airbag that has discharged. For cars that have over 100K miles, insurance companies often declare them a total loss after an accident if the airbags have discharged. Replacing the bags can cost more than
also know as (Score:2)
reactive armour
Naa... just implement "Cannoli airbag" instead (Score:2)
After crash: "What the hell happened? All of a sudden this car turned into a cannoli..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]