UK: Is is possible to buy a new car with no driver's airbag?

I imagine being Germans they thought of this. The cable or a bolt will snap before you get a chance to have your guts come out of your mouth, presumably with a mechanism making sure your seatbelt stays tensioned.

Youd hope so..

yep... TVR.. The last thing you want to do after an accident in a TVR is regain consciousness.

Seconded.

In which case, she's very likely to die in an accident.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be happy about my wife being at risk of death everytime she drove the car.

You need to teach her to sit properly !

Of course they refuse - no airbag greatly increases your chances of serious injury !

Yes, but to do so wouldn't be wise.

The problem here is your wife, not the airbag !

Print out all of these replies, and show them to her ! Airbags are a good thing ! Sitting very close to the wheel IS A BAD THING.

Has she even though about this at all ?!?!? If she's that close to the wheel, with no airbag fitted, then the chances of her head hitting the wheel, are 100%.

Does she not realise the damage that a 30mph headbutt can do ?

?!?!?

You say that as if airbags don't save lots of lives !

Exactly.

Sitting that close means that she WILL smash her head into the steering wheel without an airbag. Why do you want this to happen ?

That's quite simply not good enough. She's risking her life here !

As I've said in my other posts - you need to print out this entire thread, and make her read it. You then need to teach her to sit properly in the car, whether it's uncomfortable or not. Consider pedal extensions if she's really that small.

They do, but only if you are outside the radius of the bag when it is expanding - being hit by an expanding airbag _can_ be worse than the crash itself, although the chance of fatality is relatively small.

from the LDTR airbag advice: "If you find you still have to sit too near the steering wheel in order to drive properly then you should contact the vehicle manufacturer's authorised representative for advice. You should explain how far you can sit from the wheel and ask whether they consider this would put you at risk of serious injury from the airbag. If they think you are too close to the airbag they may be able offer practical assistance or advice to help you sit further back. If this is not possible, and the manufacturer considers that because of your proximity to the steering wheel you would be at appreciable risk from the inflating airbag, they may offer to disconnect it or install a cut-off switch."

An accident in a TVR? What, like it falling off the back of the AA flatbed? ;-)

There's a fair amount of evidence that people who are not within the 95 percentile group used when designing cars /are/ liable to be injured by airbags. Whilst it's silly to dismiss a car purely on that basis, she's not being stubborn at all. However, if it's that important to her, she should forget new cars. A nice 1990 Golf GTI Mk II would be ideal, much nicer than an Astra and they don't rust much ;)

Richard

It's the standard text that manufacturers put in to cover themselves in the event of someone trying it on with a lawsuit...

Nom ( snipped-for-privacy@Somewhere.Somewhere) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

That's because I don't believe windbags do save many lives, with the possible exception of the US where many drivers don't bother to wear seatbelts.

There's a lot of evidence to suggest they can cause or exacerbate injuries in many instances, too.

Ben Organ ( snipped-for-privacy@organisers.freeserve.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

How does it "go wrong and squash you"? It's not an active device with pyrotechnics or whatever, it's purely passive. As the impact moves the block back, that movement pulls the cable tight, which then pulls the column forward and the seatbelts tight.

In the most horrific accidents (head on collisions) Airbags are an invaluable second restraint for the head. I did a 50mph car vs tree contest and lost very badly. However when the dust and smoke from the bags cleared both myself and my friend climbed out of our now very broken car with no injuries and no after effects from the incident (other than a stonking insurance claim for a 6 wk old Rover 75)

I would NEVER buy a car without an airbag as the risk of being killed by one deploying is much less than the risk of being killed in the same accident if it was not deployed. Adjust seat properly, wear seatbelt properly and airbag can save your life and prevent serious and long term injuries. If the risk of some minor burns, abrasions and bruising is weighed against cracked skulls, broken noses and brain damage....

In article , snipped-for-privacy@achapman.freeisp.co.uk spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

Like if nothing stops the engine moving back if you are going fast enough, then nothing stops the belt tightening except your own bodies resistance until the belt has completly wound in and that wouldn't happen until it had cut right through you to the spinal column and was resting against the seat bolsters and stretched tight?

I tend not to crash.. It's an even easier and cheaper way of not getting injured... ;)

This is to be preferred, but sometimes it's t'other person who causes the "accident" and you hit something taking evasive action.

Sometimes your arseing around in a company car on a dark forest road in the rain and in autumn leaves... :(