My GTi No longer a VIRGIN..It coped it both front & rear this morning.NOT HAPPY JAN!.

[PeterHBne]

Airbags are incredibly violent and will sometimes do more harm than they prevent.

The fact that you weren't really injured (as in, your brain sitting in your lap or your heart impaled on the steering column) would suggest they only deploy in a SERIOUS accident for the reason that they are very violent. And expensive.

[NickZ]

Mate, sorry to hear about your crash. The most important thing is that you look after yourself and let the insurance deal with the car.

In regards to airbags, when they first came out, there were cases where people actually died because the airbag popped out in a low impact crash. If you hit the car in front of you doing a speed of about 20km/h, then the body of the car would absorb most of the impact and it would have done more harm than good for the airbag to deploy in that situation.

If the car behind you had an airbag, and hit you at 60ks, i would expect that one to go off. So don't be too surprised or disappointed that the airbag didn't deploy.

[nick1234]

Airbags not deployed

Hello mate,

God, I am really sorry this happened to you ! I was in the same situation when my dad's new 5 Series BMW was hit by an SUV with a bloody bullbar. The damage was similar (dent in the C pillar) as we were pushed approximately 10 metres into a Polo in front of us. The six airbags the car was equipped with didn't deploy also - apparently these are mostly just for high impact frontal crashes. It took two to three days before I suffered the actual consequences of the impact in terms of heavy headaches etc. The car was a write off. Since that happened, I have been approaching red traffic lights and traffic jams etc. with much greater distance as well as caution and also much slower, however the people in Sydney don't like it. I have also driven significantly slower than before (the accident was 7 years ago but still) and impatient people keep bloody honking or something, yet this doesn't impress me very much.

All the best and keep us posted on the news please !!

[Wand Weaver]

Hope you're okay - that looked like a BIG rear end shunt. The biggest concern with being rear-ended is always whiplash - the Polo's seats are pretty supportive and would have helped somewhat, but it's good to hear you've been checked out by the doctors.

Airbags are triggered by an accelerometer - namely one that is measuring rapid deceleration. Regardless of the damage of the car - if a big rear end shunt just pushed your Polo forward and crushed it against the car in front - the car wouldn't have decelerated that hard (think about how quickly a car stops under heavy braking), and the airbags not triggered.

[GT3]

Nice chrome tail light....

ha ha ha ..the only reason his tail light is chrome is bc the lense was smashed out - but I know you meant well kai

[Funkdancer]

I have already been to the Doc, and filled all necessary Compo paper work.
Starting to get really sore now, arm is hurt from Bracing/ stiffening up just before the hit..

Ouch!!

Now imagine you were on a motorbike.... (which is why I always without fail lane splitted to not be someone's braking buffer in a scenario like this --- sold the thing now...)

Sounds like the Pug did its part to protect you.

Getting all relevant scans done would be a must, even more so if it had actually been a side impact (very very dangerous, as momentary separation of brain halves can have extreme post incident results - this is ).

Car looks like a write off to me. Not that I have any idea, but I'd venture it's quite possibly suffered deep structural damage.

[Spec83]

Sad to see... I was involved in a rear end shunt on the expressway up here in Brisbane.. Heard the skids and braced so luckly I didn't suffer any short term injuries

By the looks of the C-Pillar there is some structural damge to the car... that is bent / crumpled not dinted!! How does the roof look? I dare say a write-off will be in order