Honda Has A New Angle On The Airbag CarBuzz News Features New Cars Used Cars Sell My Car Shopping Tools Car Reviews Car Finder Compare Cars Best Cars Car Dealerships Used Car Reviews Car Advice Home News Honda Has A New Angle On The Airbag

Honda Has A New Angle On The Airbag

Aug. 27, 2019 11:25 AM ET by Ian Wright / 1 Comment Because not every crash is head on. We've all seen steering-wheel and dashboard airbags at this point, and a proliferation of more throughout modern vehicles. An airbag is, essentially, a large balloon that inflates when impact is imminent and acts as a cushion between your body and a solid object. The problem Honda sees with the current standard airbag design is that it doesn't take into account that, according to Honda, 56 percent of impacts aren't head-on collisions. More than half involve the car connecting with something at an angle, meaning that the human head can bounce off the existing airbag and hit something that isn't skull friendly. Honda's new airbag, not developed with Takata, is designed to reduce the potential for injuries by using three inflated compartments. Honda Honda The three compartments of the airbag are made up of a center section that absorbs the forward impact and then two outward-projecting side chambers that create a wide base across the dash. Additionally, there's what Honda describes as a "sail panel" that stretches between the two side chambers at their outermost edge. The overall effect is not unlike a baseball catcher's mitt for a human head. The sail panel slows down the occupants head and draws the side chambers inward to cradle and protect the precious skull. "This new airbag technology represents Honda's continuing effort to advance safety performance in a wider variety of crash scenarios and reflects the innovative thinking that our engineers are bringing to the challenge of reducing traffic injuries and fatalities," said Jim Keller, President of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. Honda Honda "Guided by Honda's 'Safety for Everyone' commitment, our engineers recognize that their work on this type of breakthrough safety technology will have far-reaching effects on peoples' lives for many years to come." The development and testing of the new airbag were led by engineers at Honda R&D Americas in Ohio and in partnership with the Swedish automotive safety supplier Autoliv. It's been reported that once Autoliv's exclusivity deal with Honda has expired, the technology will be made available to other automakers. Given how proud Honda is in extolling its "Safety for Everyone" initiative, we would hope Honda rethinks the exclusivity deal and offers to license the technology to other automakers as soon as possible so everyone has access to it. If this new airbag tech is as important as it appears, Honda could earn a heck of a lot of goodwill by making it available across the board. Honda Honda

Join The Discussion

Show Comments (1)

Gallery

6 Photos Tags: #Honda News #Technology #Video

Related Cars

Honda Civic Coupe Ian Wright Associate Editor After working his way through several loosely related careers, Ian finally took the hint and became an automotive journalist and photographer. He spent a few years freelancing before joining up with CarBuzz to combine his love of writing, photography, and cars into one neat package. When Ian is not staring down a lens or into a computer screen writing reviews and features, you can find him in Southern California enjoying winding mountain and canyon roads. If you can’t find him, he’s probably off-roading in the desert. Contact Ian @BothHandDrive @BothHandDrive LoginSign Up Home News Features Car Reviews Car Advice 2021 CarBuzz Awards New Cars Used Cars Future Cars Compare Cars Sell My Car Car Dealerships Buy Here Pay Here Used Car Reviews Popular Tags Cars # Video # TOP # Spy Shots # Reveal # Rumor # Auto Show # Supercar # Tuning # Car Culture # Industry News # Motorsport Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Make Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Car Type SUVs Crossovers Sedans Coupes Trucks Sports Cars Wagons Vans Hatchbacks Convertibles Small Cars Luxury Cars Electric Cars Hybrid Cars Future Cars By Price Up to $15K $15K - $25K $25K - $35K $35K - $45K $45K - $55K $55K - $75K $75K - $100K $100K - $200K $200K - $300K Above $300K Back To Top