The first accident one looks like a simple sideswipe? But the dammage is tons more from the ab system destroying everything.... Totally unneeded from the looks of the dammage
Im sure the sliding door was removed by junk yard.
So imagine little side dammage now totaled the vehicle because ab deployment!
Sucks.
Im afraid in my build, a tiny accident will destroy oll my buildout!
I don't see anything extraordinary in the photos. Obviously the airbags will only work if they deploy from wherever they are installed, which will mean sacrificing some trim. Hard to tell from the photos if the headliner is really damaged badly or just popped loose from the mounting clips.
If I were installing a camper conversion in the back I'd remove the side curtain air bags, or buy a model that doesn't have them.
Ripped open the seam as designed. Where exactly would you expect them to put a side airbag that would not sacrifice some trim piece? I think you are overlooking the objective here.
This does not look like a sideswipe to me. Judging from the damage to the sliding door threshold it looks like it was T-boned. That damage occurred after the door was smashed into the threshold...very likely a pretty big hit.
I'm not sure what all the hub bub is about.
What's the bottom line?
The bottom line is that I want my vehicle to keep me and my passengers safe regardless of the results to the interior/exterior's looks AFTER the accident.
A) My insurance can deal with the ugliness of the vehicle.
B) Did all the safety features keep us as safe as possible?!!!
C) Things can be replaced, people cannot
Safety or Beauty of the vehicle???
Seems like a straightforward thought process when engineers are designing the safety features and how they'll fit on the vehicle.
"Hmmm, what will keep the passengers the safest?" or "Hmmm, what will cause the least beautification damage to the vehicle AFTER an accident?"
I'm quite certain the first question is priority.
If it is a cabin vent then it must have a way of keeping exhaust fumes out, maybe a flap valve. This might also have implications for people looking at an exhaust pipe extension or the placement of an Espar exhaust. And maybe people doing insulation.
I would like to know if it really is a vent and if so how it works. That might have to wait until my van arrives though. Maybe try to blow some smoke through it.
And if it is a vent then why do people report needing to also crack a window to get the slider to close properly?
I think the slider issue has been fixed. My inspections of vans on dealer lots in the last few months revealed that the older ones had quite a bit of variability, and the ones built from November on worked well. Mine is perfect...one hand operation, windows closed.
BTW, there is probably a vent on the drivers side, too. The wall panels that came with my van has slots cut into them on that side, down low behind the wheels. Both sides actually.
i want my vehicle to protect itself as well as me! its a huge investment that insc wont go fully good for!
i have never never been in any vehicle that deployed an airbag let alone a cucoon of airbags! must have nocked out the passengers...lol
i wish the side curtains were optional....
id feel better.
also the destruction from accidents really show how thin the vehicle is!
better not lean on it or it will dent......
rember, im looking at my transit as a part time home! with my conversion it will be my main investment that i will need to keep sound.
thats how im looking at it. its a nightmae to get in a tiny accident just to have the insc company total it out and then what ? wait another 4 months to get the replacemet and rebuild it all over again?
It's hard to know the magnitude of the impact from those images. The van appears to have been hit low and from the side, hard enough to distort the floorpan and ruin the sliding door.
It doesn't take much lateral acceleration to knock the passengers' heads into the side glass and cause traumatic brain injury. I would say that the most direct evidence that the acceleration forces were sufficient is the fact that the airbags deployed. It's possible the SRS system commanded a deployment when it shouldn't have, but we don't have proof of that.
As for the interior damage, I don't know how there could be any less. Only the trim in the immediate vicinity of the air bags is disturbed. The front driver and passenger bags did not deploy. Everything else looks fine to me.
If you're converting a cargo van, it won't have those big rear side curtains anyway.
remember...... i already have my own safety system in place!
i have a 10" thick queen size memory foam mattress in the cargo area that swoops in from behind when you hit something ......
it wraps you in luxury.... lol
IT SURE SUCKS MAKING TIME GO BUY WAITING FOR YOUR VEHICLE TO GET BUILT!
**** COME ON 2/22 GET HERE ALREADY, IM SICK OF DROOLING ALL OVER THE DAM CARGO VANS AT FORDS LOT , WHERE IS MY CAR!
ONLY THING I CAN DO IS IMAGINE THEM BUILDING ALL THE SMALL ASSEMBLIES RIGHT NOW>>>>>>
dash build, engine getting assembled, seats made, rims getting machined, printing my cb on the sync 3 system lol........ daydreaming again.
at least i have time to pick out the curtains.....12ft long x 30"wide
everything else is fricken done!
I wouldn't care if the airbags destroyed the entire interior as long as I was safe. I specifically waited for and ordered an 2016 that came with side curtains on the van. My old Transit Connect did not and I felt like a sitting duck.
Yeah something similar happened with my cousin too, however the only difference was that he was hit by a drunk driver. He hired a good DUI attorney Los Angeles and got far more than damages he would have expected.
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