my car has them in the side of the seats and in the door pillar... i think it's called side curtain air bags or something.

 

I think you may be missing the point. It doesn't really matter how safe you drive when the person hitting you in the 6500lb SUV drives like an idiot.

 

that is the point right there...

if the SUV driver actually knew how to drive responsibly, there would be less chance of an accident..

 

Unfortunately, we can't count on them to change their habits since it is out of our control. Thus, the safety measures (airbags, etc) are there to protect us from the idiots, and the idiots from themselves.

 

The structure is super strong and will prevent you from being crushed, its your head being rocketed into the structure that causes the damage. 30 mph collision is like getting hit in the side of the head with a aluminum t-ball bat.

 

The structure is super strong and will prevent you from being crushed, its your head being rocketed into the structure that causes the damage. 30 mph collision is like getting hit in the side of the head with a aluminum t-ball bat. [/b][/quote]
Hey Kev, do you see thes side air bags as an options on other ford vehicles? How much extra does it cost? I know it's different because we'll have to upgrade the interior but I'll be doing that anyway. I would imagine that saftey and security features like these eventually pay for themselves in insurance savings not to mention the benefit of having them. B)

Jason

 

I wouldn't worry about weight, it won't make a difference on the 1/4 for sure. [/b][/quote]
more weight = slower E.T. we all know that.

 

more weight = slower E.T. we all know that. [/b][/quote]
Except for the majority of us it won't matter. A passenger or even a bag of groceries in the back will add more than what these airbags will add. If I were worried about something like that I would rip out all the other seats and get rid of the air conditioner, alternator etc.. For me it won't matter. I won't be running mine down the drag strip. Well, maybe once in a while just for the fun of it.

 

They are not that light, and coming from someone who enjoys going to the drag strip, it does matter!

 

Won't be getting them, although, by 06' when I'm ready to order it may not be an option. Airbags can be dangerous everyone knows that, but they have been made safer in the last few years. So many safety measures.... I for one think the money would be better spent teaching Americans how to drive as apposed to idiot proffing their cars. But thats just me.

 

Sometimes, when I look westward over the atlantic :P you Americans seem really, really weird

Is there really a law (or rather, bill) in discussion that requires better airbags etc? Would make sense after we heard about the steering wheel layout being changed for the 2006 model.

I am just wondering why you don't have laws that require ABS (we have that here since years. I guess. At least you can't get a 200hp-rwd-car _without_ it. And neither can you get a 60hp-car without ABS). Or headlights distance controls (I bet people get killed on highways because a heavily loaded car from the opposite direction blinds them - the headlights are shining too far up). Or fewer emissions. Or better fuel economy (The average car here in Germany gets about 25-30mpg I guess). No offense. But it's just straaaaaaange

 

Sometimes, when I look westward over the atlantic :P you Americans seem really, really weird

Is there really a law (or rather, bill) in discussion that requires better airbags etc? Would make sense after we heard about the steering wheel layout being changed for the 2006 model.

I am just wondering why you don't have laws that require ABS (we have that here since years. I guess. At least you can't get a 200hp-rwd-car _without_ it. And neither can you get a 60hp-car without ABS). Or headlights distance controls (I bet people get killed on highways because a heavily loaded car from the opposite direction blinds them - the headlights are shining too far up). Or fewer emissions. Or better fuel economy (The average car here in Germany gets about 25-30mpg I guess). No offense. But it's just straaaaaaange [/b][/quote]
Just different cultures. The reason we needed airbags in the first place was because they (the government) took the view that people didn't put their seatbelts on so they had to protect us some how. I can see where ABS being required in Germany would make sense because of the winter weather. In the US, you have many states that don't see snow and don't see alot of rain, which is where ABS really helps out. So a federal mandate for that probably wouldn't make sense, although it will come at some point, or the manufacturers will eventually have it on all the cars, just like fuel injection is pretty much standard.

The headlight issue isn't much of an issue because there are alot of SUV's here that when loaded, the headlight angle doesn't change much. In Europe, there are alot more cars with softer suspensions that when loaded the headlight angle does change alot.

It goes both ways. Don't know how old you are, but remember when Europe didn't have catalytic converters and the US did? The Porsches, BMW's, etc that came over here sucked because they got robbed of their power. Only when the tree huggers got up in arms over the Black Forest and the envoronmental damage that was happening did the manufacturers in Europe put the converters on and then were forced to get the performance out of them.

As far as gas prices go, we're cheaper than you so the manufacturers and the government aren't forced to raise the average fuel econmony of their fleets. But with the recent rise in gas prices, I'm sure it will be talked about.

 

If you look at the projected product mix, only about 10% of buyers are interested in side air bags, so it makes some sense to limit the option in order to contain costs. It's not Ford's job to rope people into paying for options that they don't want. That's the government's job. :angry:

 

I detect a wiff of rice!

If they weigh too much, you could always rip out the back seat...

 

The bad thing about side-impact collisions is that there is no "crumple zone." The chances of getting in a side-impact collion may be lower than being rear ended, but the fatality rate is much higher. As Kevin said, it's like getting hit in the head with a bat.

I once got hit in the side driving an Olds 98 by a drunk at 35 mph, and my head hit the door frame and knocked me out for about 30 seconds. I got hit from the passenger side, so my head hit the window frame on the rebound. If I had had a passenger along she probably would have been killed.

Fortunately there wasn't any permament damage. (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it...)