Unsafe Fortuner?

By: CAR magazine

I am unsure about the crashworthiness of the Toyota Fortuner after an unfortunate incident. A friend of mine recently lost her father in an accident that occured when he fell asleep behind his Fortuner’s steering wheel. The vehicle rolled and was a complete wreck.

I know each crash is different, but I do not agree with Toyota’s explanation that, because the driver did not wear a seatbelt, the airbags did not deploy. Having watched quite a few crash-test videos of other cars, conducted for example by EuroNCAP, the airbags deploy, in both the frontal and side-barrier test, long before the dummy shows any movement and exerts any force on the seatbelt. If this is true, please give some insight on how the system works?

ARNOH KRUGER
Parys

Answer: Our condolences to your friend.

A technical article on airbags appeared in the June 2014 issue, which makes for good background reading in this case. Airbags are designed to work in conjunction with the primary restraint system (seatbelts). That’s why the letters SRS (supplementary restraint system) are embossed on the steering wheels or dashboard of many vehicles fitted with airbags. An airbag deploys with such force that, if your body is not in the correct position, it may severely injure or even kill you. That is why airbags in most (if not all) vehicles will not deploy if the seatbelts aren’t worn, as there is no way to tell where the body will be at the time of the impact.

Frontal airbags are designed to deploy during a front-on impact and may not function during a roll-over. Therefore, many other cars’ airbags would also not have deployed if they were involved in accidents similar to the one in which your friend’s father lost his life.

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