Will a cars airbag still go off if the driver doesnt wear his seat belt?

Question

The reason I ask is that my proffesion is exempt from wearing seatbelts. However some new cars i;e the Vauxhall astra, have annoying beeping warnings if you drive without it. I have seen a trend for some drivers to plug the belt in behind them to keep the beeper quiet, making the car think the driver is wearing his belt.

Answer 1

I was a London cab driver and did not have to wear a seat belt. One day a lorry hit me broadside and turned the cab over. The airbag went off but I was still injured as I was knocked sideways. If I had been wearing my seat belt I would have escaped injury. Wear your belt and after a while you Will feel insecure without it.

Answer 2

Depends on the car. Honda's will not. I found that out when I was in an accident going 45 mph and my air bag didn't deploy. I called to complain and the first thing they asked was if I was wearing a seatbelt. Stupidly, I was not. They said its actually more dangerous for the airbag to go off if you're not wearing a seatbelt, b/c there's nothing to hold you back from th bag.

Answer 3

airbags work on impact

Answer 4

The airbag system is completely independent from the seat beats, yes it should still go off...although you're likely to be severely injured by the air-bag if you aren't wearing your seatbelt...not smart.

Answer 5

depends what kind of impact the car has to go thru for the bag to come out... i hit a pole going about 40-50 and it didnt come out and did some damage.....

and also i tottalled another car going about 80 and both driver and passenger bags went off i was the only one in the car...

the answer really comes to the bags are meant to come out regardless of seatbelt wear..... Air bags are for protection... but if you fly thru the window then thats a different story...

Answer 6

Yeap will still go off. Think that lots of people will slate you for insinuating that you are not wearing your belt!

Answer 7

You seem to be concerned about the wrong thing here, would you fancy getting serious injuries or being thrown out of a vehicle because you didn,t wear a seatbelt.A European airbag is meant to be used in conjunction with a seat beat as a backup .It will still go off if you are not wearing a seat belt .

Answer 8

The airbags are designed to inflate when enough force is registered (how hard you hit something or something hits you).  The fact that the driver is not wearing a seat belt has no influence on air bag operation (i think)

Answer 9

the airbag is deployed if any impact occurs, whether you are even in the car. so the seatbelt does not even affect the air bag deployment.       cjhs

Answer 10

The airbag will still work. I always wear my belt personally and tell my passengers that if they don't belt up too, they better bring their hiking boots.

I never thought about how exempted people cope with that flippin' beeping thing. Now I know how it's overcome if I ever need to do deliveries or something. Thanks!

Answer 11

it will go off still

Answer 12

You might be exempt from the law of the land, but you are still subject to Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion.  Wear the d**n seatbelt.

Answer 13

Exempt or no, its still dangerous.

but to answer your question, no. The seatbelt and the airbag are 2 seperate systems, and both would work to help save you in a accident.

Answer 14

The air bag will still go off regardless of the state of the seatbelt.

Have you ever considered just wearing the seatbelt? I know you say your class of employment has an exemption, but you never know when an accident might happen. Hitting an inflated air bag without a seatbelt could lead to a broken neck or back - or worse.

Answer 15

The only exempted professions are police, fire brigade and taxi drivers, if you are either of the first two I would have thought you would have seen enough accidents to make you wear the seat belt anyway.

Answer 16

Yes it will.......

Answer 17

Erm just wear it for god sake lol,  its not gunna kill ya, driving without it will, member you maybe a really careful driver but some plonker can come up behind you at 60 MPH and your through the window. and usually airbags have sensors when impact occurs

Answer 18

The airbag will still go off, but may not save your life in a crash, and could cause you more injury in crash.  There is no reason to have an exemption from wearing seatbelts.  I could direct you to some good crash videos showing what could happen to you at speeds at low as 10 mph without a seatbelt.  Over 50% of fatalities that occur in Virginia, were not wearing seatbelts.  A little couple of seconds and a little inconvienence can go a long way in saving you a lot of trouble.  If you want to see what I mean take a look at the videos at the website below and see if it isn't worth the trouble.

Answer 19

The airbag has nothing to do with the seat belt, the airbag is set off by the collision of the vehicle so it will still go off even without your seatbelt on

Answer 20

Yes,it will still go off although you are at a high risk of getting hurt!