Even a Volvo, one of the safest cars on the road, had a bad passenger airbag in 1995. Looks like it came out and would have punched a real life passenger in the face pretty hard. But really, the USA federal government has a big share of the blame. Before 1998, cars with airbags had to pass a test with unbelted 50th percentile male dummies (same dummy type as in this test) into a flat barrier at 30 mph. It takes a really powerful airbag to protect an idiot who's not wearing a seat belt even at that speed. So, manufacturers put in overpowered airbags to meet that standard. This is nowhere near the worst design. Starting in 1998, airbags were "depowered", and most passenger airbags became smaller. This dramatically cut down on the bags' danger to children and vulnerable occupants, and also improved the airbags' protective ability for belted occupants. The only downside to the newer airbags is that they don't protect yahoos who don't buckle up, but truth be told, just wear your freaking seat belts. And yes, newer Volvos, indeed Volvos going back to the late 1990s, do have well-designed passenger airbags. December 26, 2020 9:05 pm
Bravo Volvo👏👏
Yes bravo Volvo 👏👏
In your era, it was one of the safest cars. Imagine the most dangerous lol.
Even a Volvo, one of the safest cars on the road, had a bad passenger airbag in 1995. Looks like it came out and would have punched a real life passenger in the face pretty hard. But really, the USA federal government has a big share of the blame.
Before 1998, cars with airbags had to pass a test with unbelted 50th percentile male dummies (same dummy type as in this test) into a flat barrier at 30 mph. It takes a really powerful airbag to protect an idiot who's not wearing a seat belt even at that speed. So, manufacturers put in overpowered airbags to meet that standard. This is nowhere near the worst design.
Starting in 1998, airbags were "depowered", and most passenger airbags became smaller. This dramatically cut down on the bags' danger to children and vulnerable occupants, and also improved the airbags' protective ability for belted occupants. The only downside to the newer airbags is that they don't protect yahoos who don't buckle up, but truth be told, just wear your freaking seat belts.
And yes, newer Volvos, indeed Volvos going back to the late 1990s, do have well-designed passenger airbags.
December 26, 2020 9:05 pm