US Investigates Honda Minivans for Air Bag Trouble!

Oh, isn't this just a happy thought. Imagine you're driving down the road, minding your own business and thinking of whatever you're on your way to. Maybe a business meeting. Maybe an audit with the IRS. Perhaps you have a meeting with a lawyer for a long lost inheritance? When suddenly.... WHAMMO!

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators have added about 320,000 older model Honda Odyssey minivans to a widening probe of faulty air bags that affects at least three automakers and more than 2 million vehicles.

Front air bags on the Honda Motor Co. minivans from the 2003 and 2004 model years can inflate without a crash, possibly injuring drivers and passengers.

You discover in painfully clear terms just why pride in a job well done and proper quality control at all stages really MATTERS! Goodness, on some parts, it really really matters, doesn't it??

In one of the complaints about the Odyssey, a driver in Hattiesburg, Miss., told NHTSA that the air bags went off suddenly in May of 2012 while a 2003 Odyssey was parked and the driver had an iPad on the steering wheel. The air bags threw the iPad into the female driver's face. She ended up at a hospital emergency room, and a plastic surgeon had to be called in to stitch a cut in her upper lip. Some teeth were chipped and needed dental work, the complaint said.

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Who hasn't squinted down to get a better look at something on their little screens? However, I do believe there are limits. Oh yes... Getting a better look doesn't need to come like this:

2. At what speed will an air bag deploy?

Air bags inflate as fast as 320 km/h (200 mph), and with great force. U.S. Federal regulations currently require air bags to inflate and restrain an unbelted dummy representing the average adult male in a crash test into a concrete barrier at 48 km/h (30 mph). To meet this federal requirement, an air bag must inflate in a split second (about 1/30th of a second). This is faster than a blink of an eye. It is so fast you can't see it happen. In the crash test the air bag must be able to restrain the force that the unbelted dummy, which weighs about 75 kg (165 pounds), applies to the air bag. That force can be as much as 907 kg (2000 pounds).

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Personally, I own an old Ford F-150. 1990 Vintage. A good year and before computers came to control everything. It's built like a tank and has already been in a 45 Mph rear end collision (Someone else hit the truck..). The result? The back bumper isn't quite square like it used to be. The other guy was totaled.

I find that to be a better sense of security than an explosive charge less than a foot and a half from my face to propel a big balloon into it at 200 Mph. If we MUST have them though? Oh, yes, please do make sure they only deploy in a crash? That isn't asking too much to get right before they are sold...is it?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Interesting. We received a recall notice about our van. We brought it in last week for air bag replacement.

Only took them how many years to recall 2003 and 2004 models? Interesting coming out of Detroit.

I love it when you talk Regulation Wrabbit.
Especially as an owner of a 2003 CRV...,