Killer Cars !

It is not a comforting thought to those edging their cars through stop/go traffic to know that if the driver behind them is texting or making a phone call and manages to deliver a low speed tailender - a safety device designed to keep them safe may kill them !

A fault has developed in the air bag that deploys in a crash to save the driver from face and head injury and it now may deliver shrapnel - that has been the cause of five deaths so far.  It seems that if moisture seeps into the air bag mechanism it turns from a life saver to a life killer - and two major car makers have begun the recall process to fit replacements.

Toyota is recalling cars in it's Corolla, Yaris, Rav4, Echo and Avenis range built between 2003 and 2007 and now Nissan has added another 102,000 vehicles sold in Australia to that recall.  It seems that there are about 280,000 cars on Australian roads fitted with this faulty air bag and judging by previous recalls it is likely that the replacement process will take well into next year.  In fact, it may not be possible to find every car because many will have changed hands several times over this period of time.

Recalls are a costly necessity for car makers and so often the fault is something that later develops in a totally unexpected manner, and this seems to be one of them.   The whole idea of an air bag is to place a barrier between the drivers head and the hard surfaces that will do damage on impact but this fault results in a shower of shrapnel - which can be deadly at such a close range.   It is like driving with a loaded shotgun pointed at the driver.

The sheer volume of cars affected means an inevitable delay in getting a replacement fitted, even when owners immediately contact their car dealer.  Any suggestion that the car not be used until the fault is rectified is impractical, but continuing to drive with a known deadly possibility staring the driver in the face is similarly impractical.    The logical answer is to disable the air bag.

That would seem to be something best accomplished by the dealer.  If replacement can not be done immediately, it would be safer to use the car without air bag protection than to take the chance of a faulty air bag deploying and causing injury.  To complicate matters, there is a high degree of uncertainty about how widespread this problem extends.  Not all the air bags involved will develop this fault, but driving a car that has not been subjected to the recall is like dicing with death in that game called "Russian Roulette ".

There is a danger that some owners may take matters into their own hands and try and "pop "the air bag to make it safe.  That carries both the risk of personal injury and the chance of doing damage to the cars interior - and should be totally avoided.   Motoring authorities will pressure the car makers for a speedy resolution of the problem and if air bags can be disabled in the range of cars involved that would be a logical first action to minimise risk.

It is encouraging that the car industry is now taking safety seriously and accepting the immense costs involved in recalls.   In the past, some faults were ignored, leading to needless deaths that could have been prevented.   The modern car is a technological marvel.   Some refer to it as a "computer on wheels " and it is inevitable that it's complexity will continue to deliver unexpected consequences.  Fixing these problems is now something that has to be factored into the cost structure of the car industry !