Air Bag Deployment while towing??

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Bill N

Bill N

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Joined
Jan 4, 2014
Posts
2,551
Location
Ozark, Missouri
Being new to motorhomes and talking to a local accessory store owner today, he mentioned that the type of brakes (or lack thereof) on some toads can result in air bag deployment.  I think he must have been referring to nonproportional braking (or no brakes on toad vehicle at all).  Anybody ever heard of air bags being deployed while making a sharp (but not exceptionally severe) stop?
 
I think he had been smoking funny stuff. I see no way a properly set up tow'd could brake any harder than the same vehicle when its being driven. It is the same brakes! What might be a remote possibility is a defective tow bar having enough slack to allow the tow'd to crash into the rear of the motor home.

Ernie
 
Since the air bags sensors are in the front of the coach, I am not sure a rear end collision would even activate them. How would they sense the collision?

I have seen 45 degree off front collisions that destroyed both vehicles during an accident investigation that did not blow the bags, but that's no scientific answer, just anecdotal information.
 
I think we are talking about the air bag in the toad, not the coach.

I agree with Ernie - that guy has been smoking whack-weed. I am continually amazed at what explanations & precautions some folks come up with. He may have heard that from somebody who had the airbag deploy in a car while being towed and claimed it was the brake unit that did it. And, lacking any real knowledge of how things work and whether that is remotely possible, he passed it on to you as Gospel Truth.
 
I used to work for a company that made air bag trigger mechanisms for several different auto manufacturers and I know they are tested to the extreme during mfg.  They are required to trigger at a close tolerance g-force and for a close tolerance amount of time.  If not, you'd see deployed air bags all over the place where an accident is not involved.  And, although I'm not positive, I don't think air bags will deploy unless the ignition is on and with most towing conditions, it is not.
 
I agree with Molaker.  Just checked my Cobalt wiring diagrams and conclude that the ignition switch has to be in the run position.  Additionally, there are inputs into the control module that seems to be an engine running sensor, a seatbelt latched and a seatbelt tensioned sensor (Right and Left) and weight in the seat sensor (occuptant sense Right and Left).  I think the control modules and the sensing systems are a sophisticated design to prevent accidential actuation when not needed.  Just a note, a rear end collision with a SRS equiped vehicle can actuate the airbags if all the sensors are satisfied and if the acceleration or deceleration is sufficient to trigger the crash sensor.  JM2?...
 
My nephew was driving a rental car with no one around him and no accident when the air bag on the steering wheel opened.  It burned his wrists which is why they say the 10 and 2 hand position is no longer such a good idea for the driver.  He said it scared the living daylights out of him!  Nothing is perfect.  Maybe an air bag in a tow did open once but that would be the exception.

ArdraF
 
It is certainly possible, though rare, for a control failure to trigger an air bag deployment, but it has nothing to do with being under tow. That's just plain false cause & effect logic (and lazy thinking).
 
ArdraF said:
My nephew was driving a rental car with no one around him and no accident when the air bag on the steering wheel opened.  It burned his wrists which is why they say the 10 and 2 hand position is no longer such a good idea for the driver.  He said it scared the living daylights out of him!  Nothing is perfect.  Maybe an air bag in a tow did open once but that would be the exception.

ArdraF
Click to expand...

Wow....do you remember what kind of car it was and what year?  In 17 years in the car rental industry, I've never seen that happen.  We've had recalls over the years involving air bags (which my techs perform in house) but to my knowledge, we've never had a no-impact deployment.  We HAVE had people take them off roading and do some crazy stuff that popped the bags (which they were charged for) but never just a random incident.

I can't see any towing scenario beyond an actual serious and sudden impact of the tow vehicle that could introduce a deployment in the towed vehicle...and even then, it would seem the tow vehicle would buffer the impact to the point where it would be unlikely even then.

Interesting.....
 
I am no fan of air bags and plan on a disabling move when I get round-tuit.

BUT.. Last Sept I picked up a 2001 Dodge Neon, yes it has bags and not the latest controllers either.. So far I have towed well over a thousand miles and driven at least that much more and they are still in factory condition.  Not deployed.

Accidental deployment IS, in theory, possible... I'm not sure just how that might happen and in 25 years of telling cops where to go I can not recall of a single case of it happening.

But injuries if they deploy.. That is a given, no matter where you park your hands on the wheel YOU WILL BE INJURED.. I think I recorded one deployment in those 25 years that did not result in medical treatment.. (must have been winter in MI and a heavy leather coat).

That is why I'm anti-air bag.  They cause injuries.. SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES, Air Bags cause injuries.
 
Wow....do you remember what kind of car it was and what year?
Click to expand...

No, although it was at least ten years ago.  I don't recall that he even mentioned a brand.

ArdraF
 
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