Are the optional airbags worth it ? - Page 3 - Toyota Yaris Forums

fantabulousbaby · 09-04-2006, 02:37 PM

2 answer ur question: hell to the mo-fo'in yeah side airbags are worth it!! I understand when it's your time, it's your time but some deaths and serious injuries r preventable with utilized technology. It's $650 more and you'll get it back if when you sell it. I will insist on them for the rest of my life. Airbags saved me in 03. No, they weren't the sides, but if I did get hit from the side I would've definitely needed them. I was surprised to read someone wrote about how the 'odds' are against you having an accident. I learned somewhere that everyone averages 1 accident every 6 years.. that is some research companie's guestimate, and some people never even get in accidents, but you just never know.. it could happen anywhere, anytime, and you can be hit at whatever position.. the way I look at it, if you get hit head on or from the rear, there's all that material (bumper/engine or trunk space) to absorb impact first, but from the sides.. that thin ass door.. and the possibility of smashing my head against it.. no thanks.. I'll pay extra.

On another note, think about how drunk drivers seem to never die.. pay attention to the news.. since their bodies are in a relaxed state and us sober drivers stiffen up, 'we' get hurt and they don't. Usually just a scratch for them. I live in Houston where drunk drivers (and bad drivers period) are plentiful, I never know where someone's gonna hit me.. and even though I have gotten into the habit of looking all 4 directions instead of front/back, I'll take the extra protection anywhere I can get it.

Some may laugh at my determination, but since I insisted on side/curtains for the Yaris, I did an extensive nationwide search, flew from TX to AZ to drive 17 hrs back, got windshield crack and my first ticket ever.. but I got my side/curtains

sorry 4 long post.

BensVitz · 09-04-2006, 06:22 PM

WHY?

It's all a giant government conspiracy. If we die from a collision where an airbag could have saved us, then we can't continue to pay taxes. Who are THEY to tell me that I should live?

It's a conspiracy I tell ya.... A CONSPIRACY!!!
Ben

jmew0ng · 09-05-2006, 01:22 AM

Are side impact airbags able to deploy fast enough to protect you from broken glass? If so, that would win me over haha.

static808 · 09-05-2006, 01:30 AM

im not sure about the speed of the airbag deployment, but the tempered glass windows and windshields shouldn't shatter like typical glass, buying some extra time to close your eyelids and protect the precious little orbs. we need replays of those vw jetta commercials with the side-impact accident and see whether the airbags beat the glass shattering...

--B

boxerboy · 09-05-2006, 04:54 AM

Glad I got them. Hope I never have to find out if they are worth it.

Violin · 12-01-2006, 10:05 PM

This should settle the matter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGrNBxfpXVg

BMGYaris · 12-02-2006, 03:23 PM

Im not going to comment on most of the things said here, but i do want to point out a couple things.

One is that according to nhtsa 27% of fatalities on the road are caused by side impacts, though they make up a SIGNIFICANTLY smaller % of total accidents. However, though they didnt give an actual number, they said that the majority of those fatalities were caused by spin outs where the driver crashed into a pole, or an object came through the window. Another large % of deaths are spinouts and oversteering that causes the car to flip and people fall out the side windows and get crushed--which could be a real threat in a yaris Hatchback.

The yaris side airbags do not have roll sensors, so they will not protect you if you flip. The yaris also does not have the ability to deploy side airbags in offset side impact crashes--or even in an accident with a pole. The side airbags only deploy in full on side impact collision in the range of some 45-50 mph or more. consequently, it will not truly help out where they are statistically needed the most.

Also, the side airbags are not government regulated but if you do some research on nhtsa you will see that they have run many test with children and small female simulations in the front seat. They tested them lying against the door, hands help up, and they even simulated children in the front seat with their head inbetween the door and the seat playing peek-a-boo with a child in the back seat. In these simulations they found that the airbags did not cause injuries. So dont worry too much about your side airbags, even if your playing peek-a-boo...just hope the door doesnt cave in and crush your skull.

Dont trust too much information here though, we have too many people that arent looking at reliable scientific research and data.

Violin · 09-20-2007, 07:18 AM

UPPER DEERFIELD -- Hunger pains turned quickly into real pain for Bryan Rocco on Tuesday afternoon.
The 43-year-old Vine-land man wasn't badly injured in the one-car crash on Landis Avenue near Morton Avenue, but instead walked away with one heck of a story.

It turns out his wreck may have saved his life.

"I was on my way back to the office and stopped at Burger King and bought a chicken sandwich and onion rings," the foreman for DJ's Painting in Vineland said Tuesday evening. "I started to choke on one of the onion rings and then I guess I just blacked out."
His company-owned Scion swerved and crossed the road, hit a curb and then struck a tree.

"Next thing I knew, when I came back to," he said, "I was on my side, facing the opposite direction."

And alive.

The air bag apparently dislodged the bite of onion ring stuck in Rocco's throat.

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/...WS01/709190307

Ferret_san · 09-20-2007, 07:55 AM

Hmmm. This has been bumming me for a while.
How effective would the curtain air bags be when the windows are down?

blueskana · 09-21-2007, 01:38 AM

Airbags good... wear seat belt properly.... 10&2.... drive defensively.... be safe.

SilverBack · 12-07-2008, 02:40 AM

Depends on your intentions for use.

No question about it if it's meant to be a daily-driver. With the way certain people drive these days, airbags are definite must-have IMO (BTW, I'm not implying that you're a bad driver, that's for you to decide

).

On the other hand, if you're gonna build a race or show car out of it, I would go for the strip-down base model to reduce some of the tedious prep-time needed to gut out the interior. Airbags cost more and would just get in the way anyhow.

Hope this helps

09-05-2006, 04:54 AM	#41
boxerboy Drives: WRX ,Tacoma and Yaris Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 206	Glad I got them. Hope I never have to find out if they are worth it. __________________ "PERCEPTION IS SELECTION"

12-07-2008, 02:40 AM	#47
SilverBack Joey View User's Garage Drives: '14 Scion xD 5-speed Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: El Monte, Ca Posts: 3,529	Depends on your intentions for use. No question about it if it's meant to be a daily-driver. With the way certain people drive these days, airbags are definite must-have IMO (BTW, I'm not implying that you're a bad driver, that's for you to decide ). On the other hand, if you're gonna build a race or show car out of it, I would go for the strip-down base model to reduce some of the tedious prep-time needed to gut out the interior. Airbags cost more and would just get in the way anyhow. Hope this helps __________________ Formerly owned Met-Met. '07 Yaris LB 5-speed. A forum post should be like a skirt: Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep things interesting. "I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem." -Hank Hill

09-04-2006, 02:37 PM	#37
fantabulousbaby Drives: 3 series Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Houston Posts: 75	2 answer ur question: hell to the mo-fo'in yeah side airbags are worth it!! I understand when it's your time, it's your time but some deaths and serious injuries r preventable with utilized technology. It's $650 more and you'll get it back if when you sell it. I will insist on them for the rest of my life. Airbags saved me in 03. No, they weren't the sides, but if I did get hit from the side I would've definitely needed them. I was surprised to read someone wrote about how the 'odds' are against you having an accident. I learned somewhere that everyone averages 1 accident every 6 years.. that is some research companie's guestimate, and some people never even get in accidents, but you just never know.. it could happen anywhere, anytime, and you can be hit at whatever position.. the way I look at it, if you get hit head on or from the rear, there's all that material (bumper/engine or trunk space) to absorb impact first, but from the sides.. that thin ass door.. and the possibility of smashing my head against it.. no thanks.. I'll pay extra. On another note, think about how drunk drivers seem to never die.. pay attention to the news.. since their bodies are in a relaxed state and us sober drivers stiffen up, 'we' get hurt and they don't. Usually just a scratch for them. I live in Houston where drunk drivers (and bad drivers period) are plentiful, I never know where someone's gonna hit me.. and even though I have gotten into the habit of looking all 4 directions instead of front/back, I'll take the extra protection anywhere I can get it. Some may laugh at my determination, but since I insisted on side/curtains for the Yaris, I did an extensive nationwide search, flew from TX to AZ to drive 17 hrs back, got windshield crack and my first ticket ever.. but I got my side/curtains sorry 4 long post.

09-04-2006, 06:22 PM	#38
BensVitz Drives: 2001 Mazda P/U Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 35	WHY? It's all a giant government conspiracy. If we die from a collision where an airbag could have saved us, then we can't continue to pay taxes. Who are THEY to tell me that I should live? It's a conspiracy I tell ya.... A CONSPIRACY!!! Ben

09-05-2006, 01:22 AM	#39
jmew0ng Drives: Scion FRS Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Arizona Posts: 179	Are side impact airbags able to deploy fast enough to protect you from broken glass? If so, that would win me over haha.

09-05-2006, 01:30 AM	#40
static808 Engineer/Artist/House-Dad View User's Garage Drives: 2006 Toyota Sienna XLE Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: California Posts: 419	im not sure about the speed of the airbag deployment, but the tempered glass windows and windshields shouldn't shatter like typical glass, buying some extra time to close your eyelids and protect the precious little orbs. we need replays of those vw jetta commercials with the side-impact accident and see whether the airbags beat the glass shattering... --B

12-01-2006, 10:05 PM	#42
Violin View User's Garage Drives: 2007 Yaris LB Auto Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,592	This should settle the matter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGrNBxfpXVg

12-02-2006, 03:23 PM	#43
BMGYaris Drives: Yaris 3dr Hatchback Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: South Carolina, USA Posts: 255	Im not going to comment on most of the things said here, but i do want to point out a couple things. One is that according to nhtsa 27% of fatalities on the road are caused by side impacts, though they make up a SIGNIFICANTLY smaller % of total accidents. However, though they didnt give an actual number, they said that the majority of those fatalities were caused by spin outs where the driver crashed into a pole, or an object came through the window. Another large % of deaths are spinouts and oversteering that causes the car to flip and people fall out the side windows and get crushed--which could be a real threat in a yaris Hatchback. The yaris side airbags do not have roll sensors, so they will not protect you if you flip. The yaris also does not have the ability to deploy side airbags in offset side impact crashes--or even in an accident with a pole. The side airbags only deploy in full on side impact collision in the range of some 45-50 mph or more. consequently, it will not truly help out where they are statistically needed the most. Also, the side airbags are not government regulated but if you do some research on nhtsa you will see that they have run many test with children and small female simulations in the front seat. They tested them lying against the door, hands help up, and they even simulated children in the front seat with their head inbetween the door and the seat playing peek-a-boo with a child in the back seat. In these simulations they found that the airbags did not cause injuries. So dont worry too much about your side airbags, even if your playing peek-a-boo...just hope the door doesnt cave in and crush your skull. Dont trust too much information here though, we have too many people that arent looking at reliable scientific research and data.

09-20-2007, 07:18 AM	#44
Violin View User's Garage Drives: 2007 Yaris LB Auto Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,592	UPPER DEERFIELD -- Hunger pains turned quickly into real pain for Bryan Rocco on Tuesday afternoon. The 43-year-old Vine-land man wasn't badly injured in the one-car crash on Landis Avenue near Morton Avenue, but instead walked away with one heck of a story. It turns out his wreck may have saved his life. "I was on my way back to the office and stopped at Burger King and bought a chicken sandwich and onion rings," the foreman for DJ's Painting in Vineland said Tuesday evening. "I started to choke on one of the onion rings and then I guess I just blacked out." His company-owned Scion swerved and crossed the road, hit a curb and then struck a tree. "Next thing I knew, when I came back to," he said, "I was on my side, facing the opposite direction." And alive. The air bag apparently dislodged the bite of onion ring stuck in Rocco's throat. http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/...WS01/709190307

09-20-2007, 07:55 AM	#45
Ferret_san Hack.... What hack ?? View User's Garage Drives: 07 YR Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Australia - BrisVegas Posts: 285	Hmmm. This has been bumming me for a while. How effective would the curtain air bags be when the windows are down?

09-21-2007, 01:38 AM	#46
blueskana View User's Garage Drives: 2007 Yaris LB Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 206	Airbags good... wear seat belt properly.... 10&2.... drive defensively.... be safe.