Airbags

Ponders SG

hmm. if you have read my earlier thread, i got a Civic.

But i want to know how i can deactivate the airbags?

does anyone know the official way to deactivate airbags?

In USA, dealers are obliged to deactivate them if customer requests as this is a ruling set by DOT and NHST.

But i doubt dealers here will want to do it.

I don't want to ask dealer how to deactivate it in case they want me to pay up incase anything happen (aribag deployed if i did something wrong).

I am thinking of removing the Fuse, but doing so may have a permanent "SRS" warning light on the instruments panel.

Why I want to deactivate is because replacing them costs a bomb... $4000.

You may want to laugh at my stupidity, but I have been in an accident where airbags are deployed. Seriously, you wear seatbealt properly, your head will never reach the airbag. I ended up forking $3500 to replace the airbags.

KangZ SG

Hmm i have no idea how to do it, but seriously if i were you i will leave the airbag as it is.

Why?

1. Insurance
If one day u kanna accident (touch wood), and got seriously injured, i wonder whether your insurance company will compensate you since you deactivated the airbag. They can say it's your own action that caused you to be injured to this extent. Sure..you can sue them etc., but it will take a long time and provided you are still alive to do so.

2. Safety
Yeah airbags are expensive. But they are there for a purpose. Your seatbelt may save u from hitting the airbag, but one day you may be involved in such a serious accident that the whole steering column is pushed towards you. True, in the event of a serious accident, you may not be alive with or without airbag. But surely you will wanna take your chance.

3. Odds of meeting with an accident again
Well I dunno about you, but I guess you don't meet with an accident every month right? If so why not leave the airbag alone? If you wanna take it out, you still need to find a workshop to do it for you. Most prob it won't be free.

At the end of the day, i will rather pay $3500 to replace the airbag and walk out of a crash alive rather than deactiating the arbag (it costs money, time, effort plus you may not live to regret it). Besides, what is your car insurance for?? Dun think you will be the one footing the bill. Besides that, in an accident,the air bag is normally not the most ex item to replace anyway..

just my 2 cents Very Happy

Ponders SG

Hmm, you got a point there.

It's hard for you to picture my situation. But there's a reason for why i gotta foot my own bill.

Till now i also dun understand fully the legal mumbo jumbo.

Basically, it was an not at fault accident (reckless action by another party). But other party kinda played hooky with the insurance company. So i have no choice but to claim against my own.

But my own insurance can twist and turn their story like.. because my car is not a domesitic market car and that they have no data on the things which i have to replace... yada yada yada...

so they are only willing to pay up til the car is functional again. and that airbag is an safety "ACCESSORY" thus the name "Supplemental Restraint". I ended up not buying the airbag until i had to export the car and so the salesman is only willing to take in my car after i fix the airbag.

In in my life i have lived in few countries, some countries have optional insurance coverage (up to you to buy), some have government controlled insurance, and like singapore, a free-market one.

But the suckiest part about Singapore's insurance is that we are at the mercy of the companies unless we are willing to bring legal action against them. And that a purely non-injury accident will not involve government intervention.

Thus your coverage from the company is not guaranteed.

Ok, that's a story by inself...

but basically.. i am smitten by the insurance companies here (that the at-fault party got away scot free, and that mine absconded), i have made the conscious decision that airbag will not be necessary in my driving pattern. true enough that i might not cause an accident but might be caused against me.

it's a risk i am willing to take.

paperx SG

normally drivers are killed in an accident is mostly because of airbags… its the impact of yr head against the airbag which kills u…

storm_freaky13 SG

Is that so? Rolling Eyes

If thats the case then why did they even bother placing airbags -.-
No doubt, people have been killed due to suffocation. But smacking into airbag then die? got any source?

Well, im sure if it is such a dangerous thing to have the manufacturers will do away with it.

Anyway some cars have a key slot for u to deactivate airbags if you are placing a baby chair in the car. But i think that is for front passenger side only

L3nn SG

Which civic u talking abt? eg? ek? ep? or latest hybird civic?

If latest one...dun bother to de-activate of cos lol..

4000 to deactivate? lol i never heard b4..other then new civic , the more power civic are the older generations which they only have airbag on the driver side... since u gonna de-activate the airbag / might as well get a racing steering wheel + bos kit + BYpass SRS connecter (a connector to bluff the SRS that u still using stock steering wheel) if ya getting eg 5/6 ep3 or ek 4 / 5 / 9... those civic with airbag will also kill u... chasis too weak le...

Ponders SG

Talking about FD Civic.

And if you read properly... i said $4000 to replace not to deactivate. haah.

Deactivate $4000 i rather tell them to sell me without airbag. haah

Ponders SG

I wonder you get your stats from.

people get killed from air bag if they dun wear seat belt and the force created from the air bag pushes the head back thus snapping the spinal cord.

Why i am deactivating it is because my experience was that my belt arrests me before i even hit the bag. And modern air bags do not deploy if the impact is to great, in case the steering column hits you.

sir_boris SG

Please dont save the $4k for something else ok.

tomsss SG

but what if your face hits the steering wheel instead... or the sudden seat belt arrest restrains yr body but your neck snaps forward?... the idea of the air bag is to cushion the blow to the head, which i believe is the most vital part of the body. Would you rather slam your head to a steering wheel, the dashboard, the pillar (in a case for rear passengers)... or to an airbag which is much less than a solid impact? of course you wouldn't want any airbag to be activated by the slightest knock on the bumper... nor do you want it NOT activated when the entire front end has caved in... in the end its your own call.

i'd would say, ya spending $ on a big risk.

KangZ SG

Care to share which insurance company is that? Seriously, I can only think of one in town that can possibly be this screwed up. No prize for guessing which one.

BadzMaro SG

personally... i am scared of air bags. I was in an accident. My car's air bag didnt even open.

scared of airbag.. cause i dun want to be driving.. feeling that i got something that may just suddenly pop out...

Final Destination ...