In reply to alfadriver:
I share that opinion as well. I'm not sure if anyone would argue that we have seen the end game at this point.
In reply to alfadriver:
I share that opinion as well. I'm not sure if anyone would argue that we have seen the end game at this point.
In reply to T.J.:
Aside from inaccurately paraphrasing me...Much like your original implication, the end result of this is not likely to be anywhere near as easily simplified of an either/or proposition as you propose.
T.J. wrote: The VW punishment is not about people or the environment, it is all about making the EPA look like idiots.
I think lying to the public should count for something as well. I'm sure most buyers didn't want a super-polluting car, many probably wanted the opposite.
Also I think comparing the health effects to 1 coal plant should not make it seem OK, it should show how horribly filthy coal power is.
In reply to Driven5:
I apologize for inaccurately paraphrasing you. I thought I captured the gist of what you were saying. Have a good 4th of July weekend.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
They are about as 'super-polluting' as your Samurai I'd bet.
People don't like burning coal, but they do like their lights, air conditioning and their internet. VW cheated, got caught and now are being punished. I guess we can just leave it at that and be in agreement.
I've researched this some, as I have an affected vehicle. Do a Google image search on the shrapnel victims, including the one's that didn't die. It's pretty horrific.
My driver side airbag has been on the recall list for over a year. BMW just got an extension...no word on when parts are going to be available.
If you look at the various Takata airbags, before and after the update, they're virtually the same design for all of the affected vehicles. They added extra dessicant and drilled two more exhaust jet/overpressure holes.
My opinion: if you have a Takata airbag in anything, you're probably just as vulnerable.
T.J. wrote: In reply to GameboyRMH: They are about as 'super-polluting' as your Samurai I'd bet. People don't like burning coal, but they do like their lights, air conditioning and their internet. VW cheated, got caught and now are being punished. I guess we can just leave it at that and be in agreement.
Why are you so damn salty about the stupid VW thing?
Bored and taking the other side for the hell of it?
I got a letter from Honda a few months ago telling me to bring my car into a Honda dealership. When I got there they wanted me to sign a waiver and continue to drive my car.
I said, "F%@& no, I'm not signing a waiver." They took my truck and gave me a rental that I have been driving for a few months. I called a week or so ago and they said they still have no clue when the airbag will be available. Originally I was told mid-summer, mid-summer is rapidly approaching and they don't know a thing.
I was pretty surprised they did not try to upsell me into another car and take the truck as a trade in.
Edit: about 2 mins after posting this up, Honda called and my Ridgeline is stocked up with less lethal airbags.
Why not disconnect the air bag until it is replaced.
It's not that difficult. Safer than shrapnel.
You know, before airbags, when people wore seatbelts correctly and sat the proper distance from the steering wheel they lived. Airbags were fostered on us by Claybrook and company to deal with irresponsible non belted drivers. When band-aid motorized belts, anti submarine knee bars, and other compromised designs failed to work well and the airbag industry was humming along they were regulated into cars as a feel good attempt to show how smart and safe we were. Needless to say I dislike frontal airbags. Properly belted in and an appropriate distance from the steering wheel and you'll be fine. Airbags are supplemental. Why? Because they are inferior to and useless without the seatbelt. But seatbelts are not supplemental and succeed perfectly well on their own.
In reply to vwcorvette:
That is basically true for everything except side impacts, though luckily Takata doesn't make the side impact bags!
Momo / thread.
I'd disarm them and leave it that way until the replacements are installed if I had one. Frontal airbags don't do a whole lot other than deafen you if you're wearing a seat belt, so I'd rather go without than drive around facing what is effectively (from what I've heard) a E36 M3ty claymore mine.
In reply to vwcorvette:
Agreed.
In '97, I T-boned a minivan with my '91 Integra. Sprained my wrist. Cop asked if the airbag went off. "I don't have an airbag." [shocked]"And you're OK?[/shocked] "Pretty much. Don't really need one, when you're wearing a seat belt correctly, Officer." He looked at me like I had three heads. 
The VW thing is not a fair comparison (yet).
They intentionally designed and wrote software for the sole purpose of side-stepping the laws, and mounting a massive deceptive advertising campaign that lasted a few decades. They literally built a false reputation (as a "clean diesel" company) by writing software to lie to everyone involved.
The Takata issue (so far) sounds more like there was a manufacturing error and/or a failure to identify a future consequence of deterioration and normal wear. That's not the same thing.
The number of people who died has pretty much nothing to do with the issue, other than being a dramatic way of sensationalizing people's emotions.
BrokenYugo wrote: I'd disarm them and leave it that way until the replacements are installed if I had one. Frontal airbags don't do a whole lot other than deafen you if you're wearing a seat belt, so I'd rather go without than drive around facing what is effectively (from what I've heard) a E36 M3ty claymore mine.
This. I have been mildly fearful of front airbags since their inception. I have personally known a good half-dozen persons whose ONLY injuries in a wreck came from the steering wheel airbag: broken wrist (1), broken thumb (2), dislocated thumb (1), horribly deep-tissue bruised forearm (1), broken nose/black eye, from the cover being blasted directly into their face (1).
I have disabled the Left and Right front airbags in every vehicle I have ever owned that had them. Side-impact bags are fine with me, and I leave them alone.
In reply to SVreX:
It was only an honest mistake initially. Some Takata engineers found the defect in tests performed a decade ago (2004) as well, but senior management willfully ordered the evidence destroyed in a deceptive attempt to cover up the deadly design flaw.
BrokenYugo wrote: I'd disarm them and leave it that way until the replacements are installed if I had one. Frontal airbags don't do a whole lot other than deafen you if you're wearing a seat belt.
While this was true of the original airbags in the early 90s (because they were designed to handle unbelted passengers), that changed in the early 2000s. Airbags now are an integral part of the safety system of the car, the seat belt by itself is insufficient.
it seems like just removing air bagged wheel in general is the safest option by now.
Ford mailed me last year on this airbag E36 M3, still haven't fixed it. If It wasn't for the fact I use the steering wheel audio controls it would be gone.
kanaric wrote: it seems like just removing air bagged wheel in general is the safest option by now. Ford mailed me last year on this airbag E36 M3, still haven't fixed it. If It wasn't for the fact I use the steering wheel audio controls it would be gone.
You should be able to remove the airbag from the wheel and reinstall the cover; this is what I do Problem solved 
WildScotsRacing wrote:kanaric wrote: it seems like just removing air bagged wheel in general is the safest option by now. Ford mailed me last year on this airbag E36 M3, still haven't fixed it. If It wasn't for the fact I use the steering wheel audio controls it would be gone.You should be able to remove the airbag from the wheel and reinstall the cover; this is what I do Problem solved
I should look into this.
codrus wrote:BrokenYugo wrote: I'd disarm them and leave it that way until the replacements are installed if I had one. Frontal airbags don't do a whole lot other than deafen you if you're wearing a seat belt.While this was true of the original airbags in the early 90s (because they were designed to handle unbelted passengers), that changed in the early 2000s. Airbags now are an integral part of the safety system of the car, the seat belt by itself is insufficient.
Untrue. The seat belt is the primary safety device. That is why everything else is labeled SRS for "supplemental restraint system."
And I too have friends that owe their injuries to the airbags. Holding the wheel through a curve at 3 and 9 as racers we are taught puts your arms over the airbag should you make contact with an object. Broken noses, arms, wrists, biceps, etc. I intentionally shuffle steer now to keep my arms on either side of the wheel when in and airbag equipped vehicle.
codrus wrote:BrokenYugo wrote: I'd disarm them and leave it that way until the replacements are installed if I had one. Frontal airbags don't do a whole lot other than deafen you if you're wearing a seat belt.While this was true of the original airbags in the early 90s (because they were designed to handle unbelted passengers), that changed in the early 2000s. Airbags now are an integral part of the safety system of the car, the seat belt by itself is insufficient.
I was under the impression they're still way overpowered in US spec vehicles. In any event I don't doubt that they do have some benefit in some situations, but I find it hard to believe the seat belt isn't still doing 90%+ of the work.
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