Know what happens When An Airbag Deploy
by RICHARD JENKINS
Airbags are a common feature in a majority of cars on the road today.Over the years they have proved successful at preventing injuries to drivers and car passengers who have been involved in a road traffic accident. Airbags are a robust and effective piece of safety equipment that will happy stay inactive for years waiting silently for the one moment that they will be required to work.
Popular belief seems to think that when an airbag is called upon to inflate compressed air is blasted into the bag. This however is wrong. Given the speeds required what actually inflates the airbag is a chemical reaction. A chemical called sodium azide is heated and this interaction produces nitrogen which rapidly inflates the airbag. To initiate this reaction sensors in the front of the vehicle on sensing a collision send an electric charge to the sodium azide which heats the chemical forcing it to breakdown and produce the nitrogen gas. All this happens in an average of 30 milliseconds.
It is very rare for an airbag to deploy accidentally so when an airbag does deploy the likely cause is a crash or collision. For anyone finding themselves in such a situation there are important points to be aware of.
The chemical reaction used to inflate airbags also produces chemicals that could be harmful to humans. To counteract this other chemical are used to neutralize the harmful chemicals. Add all this to the chemical explosion used to inflate the airbag and quite a lot of smoke is produced. This smoke is harmless, however can prove a shock to anyone witnessing it. In fact it is not uncommon for people to see the smoke and panic, thinking that their vehicle post collision is about to burst into flames. Statistically this is unlikely however the panic forces them to quickly exit their vehicle an action which can often cause more harm than good. After a road accident the likelihood of personal injury is high. In such a situation often the best thing to do is to remain still and wait for professional medical personnel to give you the all clear.
So if ever an airbag goes off in a car you are traveling in the first thing to remember is do not panic and be absolutely sure that any injury you have will not be aggravated by exiting the vehicle.
Richard Jenkins is owner of the driving test and UK driving schools website. A site for learner drivers providing guides on topics such as the driving theory test and cheap young drivers car insurance .
