My roommate and me always argue over seat adjustments. Being taller I need more leg room and like to pull it back. She has just the opposite problem. In fact, she rolls her seat so near the glove case that I got thinking about safety. You see the airbag inflates air into the bag at some predetermined pressure. But because her seat is rolled so close upfront couldn’t it be that the jerk of the airbag injures her?
My idea is this. Why cant the 'air filler' for the airbag fill air depending on how close or far the seat is. Maybe a feedback mechanism might do the trick. Or maybe this is not needed at all. I was just curious.-- nomadic_wonderer, Mar 23 2004 (?) Cadillac's dual stage system http://www.cadillac...=airbags&year=&df=nEmbedded Flash file. [bristolz, Oct 29 2004] Sounds like a good idea. I'd almost be surprised if they don't do it already.-- theircompetitor, Mar 23 2004 They do. This is well baked on many upper end late model cars. Have a look around. (Start with Lexus.)
They also have sensors that won't inflate the bag unless a certain weight limit is exceeded on the seat, to prevent the bag inflating on a child.-- waugsqueke, Mar 23 2004 These should really be called nitrogenbags.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 24 2004 Or 80%ofairbags.-- kropotkin, Mar 24 2004 [waugsqueke] This has not been done.-- nomadic_wonderer, Oct 29 2004 Airbags these days in most new domestic American models are 'second generation' airbags. This means that most have seat sensors to detect weight patterns or other smart systems to detect the passenger.
There are some systems that have two-stage airbags, which have two settings, in which seat position is indeed a factor, along with the weight sensor input.
My personal favorite safety improvement as of late is the adjustable pedal. These greatly improve short driver's positioning further from the steering wheel, which reduces their chances of injury from an airbag.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 29 2004 They're also called "advanced frontal airbags" and they use occupant size (weight and seat belt tensioner), seat position, seat belt use and deceleration G-force (impact severity) to automatically figure the level of inflation power.-- bristolz, Oct 29 2004 random, halfbakery