Have you ever been in a car wreck where the air bags deployed? What was it like?

Question

Have you ever been in a car wreck where the air bags deployed? What was it like?

Answer 1

A big bang like you've never heard before. You don't even see the bag coming. Then there's an acrid smell of the explosive charge that irritates your throat and lungs.

Contrary to what we see on television, air bags inflate instantly and then deflate; they don't stay inflated.

And if your air bags go off, they WILL break the windshield.

Answer 2

I always thought the airbag going off was worse than the actual wreck, (I was wearing my seatbelt,) and the cabin of the MX-6 filling with smoke as I slid uncontrollably is something I could live without again  I couldn't see anything around the airbags, which really didn't make me happy.  The light pole sort of ruined my day.  I got free admission to not one, but two wrecks.

The deployment of the airbags sounded about like a shotgun.  The propellant burned my hands between my thumbs and index fingers, and there was so much smoke, I thought the car was on fire.  I shut the engine off and got out, leaving the transmission in drive.

While none of the accidents I've been in are things I care to repeat, the pillow exploding in my face is something I could have lived without, and can live without ever happening again.

Answer 3

My friend had his airbag hit him and it knocked him out cold

Answer 4

I have never been in an accident where the air bag was deployed but I have seen accidents where the driver and passenger were severely burned and scratched and bloodied by the airbag, but they were at the same time alive.