BETTER PARTSWhich airbag protects the most?
Munich, July 23, 2015
Imagine you are driving on a winter road. Suddenly in the curve, the wheels are slipping away ?? Black ice can get into a skid the car. The tour ends on the side of a tree beside them crashing just left the car, just centimeters from your head. In such a case, an air cushion is priceless: an airbag which pushes itself quickly between the tree and her head. Just what type is the best? This has studied the automobile club ADAC. There were to: a VW Polo with the standard head - thorax airbag and a polo with the optional curtain airbags for 500 euros extra.
New: The oblique pole crash
The described type of accident is simulated in the current EuroNCAP crash test with the so-called pole crash, in which the car at 32 km / h pushed against a 25 cm wide, fixed pole. Under the new testing regulations the car now collides no longer perpendicular to the edge against the post, but at an angle ?? at an angle of 75 degrees. This real-life accidents is better maps. This new test subjected the ADAC now the two Polo versions.
Since the thoracic head airbag ( as he is not only offered in the VW Group, but also in vehicles from Renault, Smart and Mini ) is installed in the lower back area, he must travel to the head in the unfolding of a long way to the top?? against gravity and against intruding vehicle parts in an accident. In now conducted crash tests showed that the system has reached its performance limit during oblique pole impact. The curtain airbag outperformed. It consists of a cushion of air - curtain, which covers the entire front window, and a crash cushion in the seat back for protecting the chest. The curtain also protects the head of occupants in the rear outer seats. For the person behind the driver, there was so in the crash test lower by half head load. But the built-in roof curtain airbag unfolds even faster and better ?? So when it comes to head protection comes all the best from above.
Safe with curtain
The conclusion of the testers: Who pays attention to safety and frequently has passengers in the back seat, was possible to order a curtain air bag, even if the charge costs. The next best thing is the head - thorax airbag, followed by the normal side airbag. However, the vast majority of cars in Germany even without side air bag go. After ADAC estimates only every tenth vehicle is equipped with such. Of these, 35 to 40 percent already have the best solution: a curtain airbag. About 15 percent are worse with the thorax airbag head go. The rest, or about 50 percent, has a normal side airbag which protects not Although the breast, but the head . ( sl )