[GlacierBobby]

Spent the night sleeping in my Prius, waiting for a ferry connection, and wondered if it was safe to lie out on the seats and whether the air-bags could accidently deploy with the car turned off?

 

[DanMan32]

I am not sure, but I would think the answer is no. I believe the ABS is armed only in Ig-On or READY. After all, this is when its diagnostics is run.

 

[KURT]

Sleeping in a Prius

Geeze you must really thrash around in your sleep to worry about the airbags deploying!! :wink:

 

[Astrowoman]

Re: Sleeping in a Prius

Geeze you must really thrash around in your sleep to worry about the airbags deploying!! :wink:

I guess when he crashes, he REALLY CRASHES! :lol:

 

[GlacierBobby]

I guess I should be OK as long as I don’t start chewing the side of the seat in my sleep. It was a convoluted line of thought that had me thinking of non-crash deployment of the bags; that is I was having a trip to London during the latest bombing, and I have also booked a holiday to Sharm el-Sheikh so I was thinking loud bangs and wondered if the shock wave from an explosion would deploy the bags hence giving me extra protection! It might give Toyota another selling point. (better be the end of this thread)

 

[DanMan32]

Well, the airbags are explosive devices, intended to be detonated electrically. Like any explosive, it could be unintentionally detonated by other means. That's something that rescue crews have to consider.

 

[An04Prius]

I for one, would like the ability to turn airbags off/on for certain circumstances....even tho I readily & intentionally
purchased the maximum airbags available in the Prius, and wear a seatbelt 100% of the time.

 

[GlacierBobby]

"Well, the airbags are explosive devices, intended to be detonated electrically. Like any explosive, it could be unintentionally detonated by other means"

I hope they are immune to lightning strikes! The Prius is a Faraday cage so it should be safe. Does the Prius set them off in a ‘chain reaction” or does each bag have it’s own sensor. Have not found much in the literature re their construction / operation / safety.

 

[mrv]

"Well, the airbags are explosive devices, intended to be detonated electrically. Like any explosive, it could be unintentionally detonated by other means"

I hope they are immune to lightning strikes! The Prius is a Faraday cage so it should be safe. Does the Prius set them off in a chain reaction or does each bag have its own sensor. Have not found much in the literature re their construction / operation / safety.

US 2004 Owner's Manual has quite a section on both seat belts and the air bag system (air bags on pages 63-77). My reading is that there are different sensors, one for the front air bags (that go off in tandem), and another for the side/curtain airbags (since the diagrams for which situation they will deploy in are almost reversed).

 

[GlacierBobby]

Typed 'cars airbags' into Google and got the following link (plus lots of others);
http://www.airbagonoff.com/new_page_19.htm
so can now study the subject.

Quote from above
"Why an Airbag Switch?
There has been little publicity about the severe, disabling injuries airbags cause each year, but the issue of airbag injury has been common knowledge among emergency room physicians and nurses ever since airbags were introduced.

Air Bag Switches give you a choice. Airbags detonate with about 2000 pounds of force at more than 200 mph. This much force can amputate fingers, fracture bones in the arm and face, or even kill; especially if you are too close to the airbag when it detonates. Even "depowered" airbags deploy at 180 mph. The force of the bag is intended to hit an average man in the chest, but shorter people are hit in the face. This impact is especially dangerous for those shorter than 5'4", children, the elderly and those with Osteoporosis, heart surgery or other medical conditions."

 

[KURT]

Airbags

Hey, lets send a bunch of Prius's over to Iraq, attention them to "Suicide Bombers Only" and set off the airbags when they get inside. 8)

 

[GlacierBobby]

Or London!