That's true; also remember you're watching the replay with the benefit of a high-speed camera. The wreck occurs in the space of about 1 second, from impact to destroyed car. That means the bags deployed inside of about a quarter second of impact.

 

True, slow mo does skew ones perception quite a bit

 

There was a guy who went through the effort to get one pristinely restored and such and then someone caused a collision and the bags didn’t go off. However, on the failbook groups I’ve seen some examples where they did.

I worked for Chrysler quite a few years ago and it was a HUGE deal if airbags didn’t deploy in a collision that should have had them work. They did a full on investigation for each instance and everything. That level of priority doesn’t seem evident for Land Rover based on the above (and my experience in yard is exactly the same).

I dunno, but it certainly makes me take pause at the whole deal. I’ve never taken the time to explore how the system works, but I have to assume it is similar to those in other cars where it is is an accelerometer based design and such, but I just don’t know where those sensor or the like. If my kids were driving age and I set them loose in a D2, I’d sure be doing that research and any form of testing to confirm functionality of the system.

 

As I understand it, there is a minimum requirement (something like 28mph impact) and then brands can add other intelligence to the system from there. I was rear ended by a car going 50mph, They never touched the brakes being on the phone. My car a 03 BMW 325i wagon was hit first. My airbag went off on the rear impact and pinned me to the seat. I was fine other than airbag shock. I was pushed into a Chevy truck that was pushed into a Camry and then another car. No other airbags deployed except the car that started it and me. The Mitsubishi driver that started it was hurt, as was everyone else. All minor cuts and bruises, whiplash, etc. The impact was enough to bend the spare tire rim in the BMW trunk well. All the doors opened fine but the front and rear were squished absorbing the impact and collapsing vs intruding into the passenger space. It was impressive.
As I have kids that will be driving in several years I have reservations about the D2 as a "safe" kid car. There use to be a youtube video of a D2 in a overlap crash with a normal car. The D2 did not fare well. Modern cars with crumple zones and strategic high strength steel usually do way better than the "tank" approach with body on frame. And cars can evade accidents better. If I swerve in my D2 with any gusto I am pretty sure it will be on its head.
Trucks are better now, but it was not that long ago they were not required to meet the safety standards that passenger cars did. Manufacturers made bank on this exemption. They were big and heavy, but that was about it.

 

Just found this on the aussie D2 site -
was reading the section on the airbags in my rave Cd the other night and stumbled upon this:
The SRS DCU is an electronic single point crash sensor. It is capable of sensing if a crash has taken place. If all the
relevant parameters are met, then the DCU deploys the airbag(s) and seat belt pretensioners.
The DCU is bolted to the transmission tunnel beneath the centre console in the area of the handbrake.
The SRS system is a stand-alone system. There are no remotely mounted crash sensors. The only external input to
the DCU is power.
The diagnostic and control unit (DCU) controls the SRS system. The DCU is located beneath the centre console close
to the handbrake area. The DCU contains both an electronic deceleration sensor as well as an electromechanical
safing sensor. When the electronic deceleration sensor within the DCU detects rapid deceleration of the vehicle, it
compares the deceleration rate with stored values in its' memory. If the deceleration rate exceeds the stored value
and the electromechanical safing sensor triggers, the DCU deploys the airbag and the seat belt pretensioners. The
DCU will not deploy the airbags and seat belt pretensioners unless both sensors trigger.
am i correct by believing now that the SRS system has no external crash sensors mounted on the front of the vehicle, therefore it would not matter what type of bumper or bullbar you had on the front of the car( within reason ie: no sharp corners or forward sloping posts) as the decelerometer and the safing unit take car of that function which is tuked away in the transmission tunnel.
Thoughts opinions anyone?

 

Nope didn't deploy. (assuming your talking about me and the car in the Fresno junkyard) It rolled on the front left side. It did land more on top than the front or side so that may be wide. If your curious for how it landed I can post photos for analysis of why they did/didn't go off.

The last photo posted (tan exterior and interior) was the aftermath of the accident. Before the accident I was replacing the headliner and looking at it was skeptical of the strength of the roof, but after hearing how a fellow D2 owner had a deck crash onto it and came out okay I was assured. Now after the accident I'm impressed at how well the roof stayed together, after it landing on the roof, with 7 people inside going 45mph. Now Volvos have their reputation for being extremely safe, and I'm sure we would've come out better. But I'm sold on the safety of a rollover in a rover. Plus being the bigger car in an accident is typically better. So I'll take the downfalls of a big car any day over being the Prius smashed between a car and whatever happens to be in the way.

 

I have seen a number of wrecked D2's in the wrecking yards, probably more than a dozen. Never seen any significant intrusion in to the passenger compartment. D2 has an extremely low center of gravity for its size and height due to most of the weight being below the frame (very heavy suspension arms, axles, wheels, lightweight engine, body, and transmission) and wide track. I have not see many rollovers compared to other models and the ones i have see usually fared pretty well. D2 was my daughters first car, she hit three cars with it and totaled one of them. I still drive her first truck. After her second D2 she decided she needed something that got better mileage, got her a 2008 Ford escape hybrid (also low center of gravity due to heavy battery in the rear floor). She rolled it in less than a month when a wheel dropped off the shoulder. She is no crash expert but she said after the wreck it never would have happened in the D2, I am guessing she had dropped wheels off the shoulder before.

 

That sounds right to me!

 

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