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Old 01-13-2006, 04:49 PM   #1
avenno2g7
 

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Are the optional airbags worth it ?

I know safety is always the best, but are these extra airbags really worth it??? Im not sure if im gonna get them, everyday I think a different way, some days its yes definatly gonna get them, others its, nah not worth it. I just dont know
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Old 01-13-2006, 06:04 PM   #2
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Well, I personally think that the best types of safety are active safety and defensive driving. However, when accidents happen, small cars had better be equipped with as many air bags as technology allows. As the trend is for cars to have more air bags, until better safety technology appears, a car with side and curtain or even knee air bags may attract a higher resale price when it is put up for sale or trade in. Also, air bags may help to keep insurance rates down. On the other hand, cost is a factor to be considered. Obviously, a car that is meant to be inexpensive cannot have too many air bags. However, Toyota is never meant to be cheap. It is quite an upscale import and thus should be better equipped than the "competition" and that is the reason why I speculate that future Yaris models may well come with more air bags. If I am right, may be it is worthwhile to insist on a Yaris with sufficient air bags, that is of course, if you have not yet ordered one, in order not to get outdated too soon. This is my humble opinion and I respect that other members may have different views.

Last edited by swng; 01-14-2006 at 04:40 PM.
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Old 01-13-2006, 06:14 PM   #3
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I completely agree with swng. Especially in north america where SUV's are driven by soccer moms applying makeup and talking on cellphones, you should have the proper protection if you're in a subcompact.
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Old 02-12-2006, 06:32 PM   #4
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if you love the people in your car!!!
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Old 02-13-2006, 03:40 PM   #5
why?
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Airbags have killed and injured more people then they have saved. Unless you are 6' tall and weigh 180 lbs odds are an airbag will injure you.
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Old 02-13-2006, 05:25 PM   #6
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I still can't figure out why folks need anything more than a seatbelt. What they need are air bags on the outside of the car to cushion the blow by a crazy soccer moms driving into you..
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Old 02-14-2006, 12:27 AM   #7
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In defence of the air bags that defend us, I wish to point out that people can get injured by deploying air bags when e.g.:

a. they do not sit properly in their seats,
b. they(such as infants) are put in seats(such as the front passenger seat)
where they should not be put,
c. they do not wear seat belts,
d. they sit too closely to the steering wheel when they drive,
e. they put their hands on the wrong positions of the steering wheel, and
f. they do not read the warnings posted in their cars in relation to the existence of air bags. Warnings are sometimes put on the back of the sun visors, together with other warnings.

I would also point out that nowadays, air bags are designed differently than years ago. Some air bags will not deploy when sensors detect that underweight passengers are in the seats. Also, in case of a not so serious crash, some air bags will either not deploy or deploy with less force. In case there are both front and side/curtain air bags, only the ones that need to deploy, depending on how the crash occurs, will actually deploy. However, not all cars with air bags have adopted all these new designs. Still, hopefully, air bags will injure less people and save more lives with their updated designs.

Having said the above, I respect that it is a personal choice whether to order optional air bags.

Last edited by swng; 02-14-2006 at 05:29 PM.
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Old 02-14-2006, 08:38 AM   #8
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They still have never been proven. Seatbelts are plenty enough protection.

Not to mention most of the things you listed are personal preference, and tell me why someone should change their driving habits because the government forced airbags on them?

Next your going to tell me the government should be able to run everything else about their citizen's life.
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Old 02-14-2006, 09:39 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
They still have never been proven. Seatbelts are plenty enough protection.

Not to mention most of the things you listed are personal preference, and tell me why someone should change their driving habits because the government forced airbags on them?

Next your going to tell me the government should be able to run everything else about their citizen's life.
Strike. ha ha. As I have mentioned on another post, I do agree on we should have a choice on deciding what we wanted to do. We should have a choice to say either we wanted it or not.

As for if it's a good idea to have, it's all about personal preference. For myself, I would prefer no airbags.

Strange as it seems, I like my car pretty plain. No ABS, EBD, AirBags. Just gimme what you have in stock (Like a CE) and I'll decide what to put in there. ha ha.
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Old 02-15-2006, 06:19 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
Airbags have killed and injured more people then they have saved. Unless you are 6' tall and weigh 180 lbs odds are an airbag will injure you.

Dude, its ok to voice your opinion but what you are saying is total BS...

"Since 1990, 105 deaths have been reported. A majority of these deaths were children improperly placed in the front seat, with their head directed towards the deploying airbag (it fills with air instantly). Most of the other deaths have been attributed to improper seatbelt use or lack thereof altogether."

"More than 2,920 people owe their lives to airbags. Driver deaths have been reduced by 14%; passenger deaths reduced by 11%. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, when combined with the proper use of a seatbelt, reduces the risk for serious head injuries by 75% (seatbelts alone have a 38% risk)."
http://www.4insurance.com/auto/airbags.asp

And this is just for front airbags. Check this out about side airbags...

"National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows that driver-side airbags are reducing deaths by about 14 percent, while passenger-side airbags are cutting deaths by about 11 percent"
http://www.thecarconnection.com/Shop...172.A5027.html

I dont have it offhand, but I have read that side curtain airbags can reduce death in side collisions by up to 45%..

Bottom line, if you are in a collision with another vehicle, airbags are beneficial.
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Old 02-15-2006, 06:50 PM   #11
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So you take statistics from the people who want airbags to be forced onto citizens and expect their statistics to not be slanted?

105 people were killed because government morons forced airbags onto its citizens.

You cannot prove that airbags have saved anyone, especially if those people were also wearing seatbelts.

when combined with the proper use of a seatbelt Was the MAJOR qualifier that the NHTSA used.

You know what that means? It means the NHTSA does not know if airbags have saved anyone.

*Note: Airbags do not work alone!

Another MAJOR qualifier on that site.

Note also that website gives NO sources or studies for its data. Why should I believe an Insurance company? Especially one on the web?

Notice how every source that mentions airbags also mentions that seatbelts must be on?

Seems to me seatbelts are the things saving lives.

Oh, and airbags have only been mandated by governing fools since 1998. That is only 9 years. Any scientist will tell you there is not enough data yet to tell if airbags do anything.

And any scientist will also tell you advances in metals, body structures, crumple zones, etc, etc, etc, will also have a major impact on what happens to a person in an accident.

The bottom line is that we KNOW airbags have murdered 105 people in the USA. Yet why aren't the government officials who are responsible brought to trial for these murders?

No one can tell you IF any lives have been saved with airbags.
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Old 02-16-2006, 01:01 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
...
...

No one can tell you IF any lives have been saved with airbags.
It really isn't that hard to determine whether or not airbags are effective.
(1) Crash test the car.
(2) Crash test the same car but with side and side curtain airbags.

The crash data consistently shows that with the extra airbags, the car receives a better side impact result score.

03-06 Corolla - Side impact improves from poor to average when side/side curtain airbags are added:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=305

02-06 CR-V - Side impact improves from medium to good when side/side curtain airbags are added.
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=307

I am confident the same would apply to frontal impact if they tested the same car with/without front airbags. Luckily no one makes a car w/o front airbags anymore...

Or is the IIHS biased? Are they trying to sell their agenda to us?
PLEASE...
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Old 02-16-2006, 10:31 AM   #13
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Of course they are biased. ALL humans are biased.

Here is the other problem, they are not giving an objective scale of how safe the vehicles are, they are comparing vehicles to each other.

So there ratings do not tell how likely a person is to die in a specific car.

BTW, unless you are testing with real human beings, and we know no one would do that, a test is not going to simulate what would happen to real human beings.

Subjective ratings don't cut it when the question is if airbags really work. They only way to tell that is with hard real world data. And there is not enough of that yet to make a sound judgement.

On the other hand, we know airbags have murdered many people around the world.

Sounds like a good reason to not make everyone have to have them.
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Old 02-20-2006, 05:22 PM   #14
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Exclamation Some of the IGNORANT BS I read on here....

....is simply amazing and astounding!!

For starters we are talking here about the optional combination HEAD PROTECTING SIDE CURTAIN AIRBAGS and SIDE AIRBAGS for the Torso!!! Frontal airbags are a STANDARD feature in virtually all vehicles sold today.

For those that are clueless, a Seatbelt CANNOT, and is not designed to protect you in a SIDE IMPACT

Secondly, there is no CRUMPLE ZONE on the side structure of a vehicle!! In a frontal impact the hood and engine compartment acts as the crush zone, effectively crumpling and absorbing the kinetic energy that is generated from the impact of the collision (in laymen terms, this can be portrayed as a "cushioning effect"). The actual passenger compartment/cabin needs to be as strong as possible to avoid deformation. In a side impact collision, there is virtually nothing between you and the striking vehicle!!. Besides this, the side structure is simply not strong enough to withstand the entire weight of the striking vehicle.....so your only defense in a situation such as this is AN AIRBAG THAT DEPLOYS AND PROTECTS YOUR HEAD/TORSO from the intruding hood/bumper of the vehicle that strikes you (especially, if it's that HIGH-RIDING 5000lb SUV!!) .....Without this crucial airbag, if you're struck on the side by an SUV, DEATH IS CERTAIN regardless of the speed of offending vehicle....In a scenario such as this (a Yaris being struck on the side by an SUV), I'm not saying that you will always be able to avoid injury even with the airbag, but it may mean the difference between LIFE AND DEATH, and in a lower speed impact it may also mean the difference between being seriously or fatally injured and not. For those that think all of this is a whole lot of mumbo jumbo go to the website mentioned below and see how vehicles fared WITH AND WITHOUT SIDE CURTAINS (I've used the RAV4's side crash test results as an example because they tested it both with and without side airbags - click on the links to see the results WITH airbags). The same vehicle received a "POOR" rating without and a "GOOD" rating at the opposite extreme end of the scale, equipped WITH them.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=278

And Finally, remember that, while an accident involving a frontal impact can be "controlled" or "avoided" to some extent, there is virtually NOTHING you can do, to control REAR IMPACTS and SIDE IMPACTS in some situations. Consider the following example of the accident I was involved in a couple years back, with my 2003 Toyota Corolla:

I was stopped at a RED traffic light. All of a sudden I look in my rear view mirror, and see this car closing in on me at an unbelievable speed, and before I could think "there is no way that guy is going to stop without hitting me", there was a loud crash. I was rammed in the rear, by a STONE-DRUNK driver, at 40mph. The impact was so great that I was pushed clear accross the intersection and waay past it. LUCKILY it was 11pm and traffic was very light, and there was no CROSS-TRAFFIC. Otherwise, a vehicle in cross traffic (which had the green light) travelling 40mph or more, could have struck me on the side when I was pushed due to the impact, and I probably wouldn't be alive today to tell this tale. Even though my Corolla was equipped with the optional Side airbags, "Head protecting side curtains" were not yet available on this model. So the hood of the intruding vehicle (especially if it was an SUV) would have crushed my head to smitherines, killing me instantly!!...Does anyone in their right mind think a seatbelt would have helped me in a situation like this??

So there you go, Side curtains should be STANDARD equipment. IMO, they are FAR MORE important than even FRONTAL airbags!!
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Old 02-20-2006, 06:13 PM   #15
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Exclamation I'd love to see the source....

Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
Airbags have killed and injured more people then they have saved. Unless you are 6' tall and weigh 180 lbs odds are an airbag will injure you.

.....of the statistics that prove your ridiculous claim!!....and I'd also like to know what qualifications you possess to make these outlandish statements
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Old 02-21-2006, 10:41 AM   #16
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Front airbags should not be standard. They only are because moron governments make them mandatory by law.

Actually, you are wrong. A seatbelt can protect you in any crash if you are wearing it. Many people that get hit on the side that are not wearing seatbelts get injured much more then if they were wearing them.

You are wrong again. The sides of vehicles are heavily reinforced so they can take the entire impact of a vehicle. Also, if you have ever watched a vehicle run right into the side of another one you will notice that the entire vehicle is pushed. This is the way cars were designed so that occupants are protected from all accidents.

You should learn what you are talking about. You actually have a better chance of surviving being hit on the side directly because the car will move sideways MUCH easier than it can move backwards if you are hit head on.

Again, you are using subjective ratings. What does a poor rating mean? Does it mean the occupant is guaranteed to die, or just that the vehicle did worse than average?

"In each side-struck vehicle are two instrumented SID-IIs dummies representing a small (5th percentile) female or a 12-year-old adolescent. These dummies are positioned in the driver seat and the rear seat behind the driver."

From your link. This means these tests are worthless if you are an average size human being.

Not to mention the site does not say what each rating actually means.

It also looks like they place the car directly in front of the object hitting it, and the vehicle did not move sideways. This is not what would happen in the real world. The vehicle being struck would absorb the impact by moving sideways.


Rofl, one story of a REAR impact and you think you know what you are talking about

I bet you've never been in a high speed side impact collision.

Well guess what? I have.

I was 7, I was not wearing my seatbelt, I was in the rear seat on the drivers side. An Olds 88 struck us going at least 40 mph, prolly faster. We were in a buick.

Guess what? The car moved sideways. In fact, the car moved at least 10 feet sideways, and spun at the same time. The car was pushed from the middle of the intersection all the way to the grass 5 or 6 feet from the stop sign which we started. I am being conservative with my estimates, the car prolly moved longer, and chances are it actually went airbourne.

My 7 year old non seatbelt wearing self needed 45 stitches in my face. I had no other injuries. My father, who was driving, had minor pain in his side which lasted only a week.

That was the only injuries.

Every car sold today is safer then the buick I was in during that 1986 crash.

Guess what? I was also hit in the rear by a drunk driver prolly around the same speed you were. I was not injured. A rear collision most certainly will not help you know what a side impact collision will be like.

If you want more accident stories, I have plenty of them for you. I have been in more then my share of accidents.

BTW, I LOVE how you changed the subject because you knew there was no way you could out debate me.

Airbags are very heavy, and they reduce gas mileage and performance and they have not yet been proven to do anything besides. Until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that they do anything they should not be forced upon us by govenrment morons.
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Old 02-22-2006, 12:26 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
...
You are wrong again. The sides of vehicles are heavily reinforced so they can take the entire impact of a vehicle. Also, if you have ever watched a vehicle run right into the side of another one you will notice that the entire vehicle is pushed. This is the way cars were designed so that occupants are protected from all accidents.

You should learn what you are talking about. You actually have a better chance of surviving being hit on the side directly because the car will move sideways MUCH easier than it can move backwards if you are hit head on.
I understand your theory, but being hit by an SUV in the side in a small car like the Yaris can be extremely severe, even at a relatively low speed (under 40 mph).

Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
Again, you are using subjective ratings. What does a poor rating mean? Does it mean the occupant is guaranteed to die, or just that the vehicle did worse than average?
C'mon, be realistic; you know they cannot predict death. They arent fortune tellers. Poor means more potential for injury/death than average. Poor means more potential for wonderful things like punctured lungs and severe brain damage.

...
Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
Airbags are very heavy, and they reduce gas mileage and performance and they have not yet been proven to do anything besides. Until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that they do anything they should not be forced upon us by govenrment morons.
I am confident you are the minority with this viewpoint. I prefer to side with the safety/crash test experts. Out of curiosity, have you taken out/disabled the front airbags on your current car, since they are so deadly?

Also, check out this video...
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/Dateli...ide_Impact.mpg

Right click save as...
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Old 02-22-2006, 12:28 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by why?
They only are because moron governments make them mandatory by law.

Actually, you are wrong. A seatbelt can protect you in any crash if you are wearing it. Many people that get hit on the side that are not wearing seatbelts get injured much more then if they were wearing them.

You are wrong again. The sides of vehicles are heavily reinforced so they can take the entire impact of a vehicle. Also, if you have ever watched a vehicle run right into the side of another one you will notice that the entire vehicle is pushed. This is the way cars were designed so that occupants are protected from all accidents.

You should learn what you are talking about....

Rofl, one story of a REAR impact and you think you know what you are talking about

I bet you've never been in a high speed side impact collision.

Well guess what? I have...

Guess what?... the car prolly moved longer, and chances are it actually went airbourne.

Guess what?...

If you want more accident stories, I have plenty of them for you. I have been in more then my share of accidents.

BTW, I LOVE how you changed the subject because you knew there was no way you could out debate me.

...they should not be forced upon us by govenrment morons.
OK... um, where to start...? I have just picked highlights... THIS IS YOU OUT-DEBATING SOMEONE!!!!!? I don't claim to know the answer to the airbag debate. I think it's pretty well established we all agree... well most of us agree, that seatbelts/airbags make cars safer. I DO KNOW that being longwinded and starting points with "you are wrong" and "well, guess what..." does not make one right and usually doesn't win arguments (except for that one time in like 7th grade).
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