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[Lazydocker]

The airbags need significant deceleration of the vehicle to be triggered. They would do more harm than good in a lesser impact.

1700kgs of Omega versus, what? 100kg of deer, maybe a little more, plus it looks like the deer was deflected by the bonnet. The car isn't going to decelerate much there.

No noticeable deceleration from the impact

[Andy H]

Interesting that your car sustained that amount of damage, yet the airbags didn't go off.   

What sort of impact do they need to go off? And do they lose their sensitivity with age? 

Yes. This also surprised me.

Like everything else they must degrade with age. Maybe the gas leaks out if a seal goes or something. 

Not something I've thought about before. 

Simple really... The airbag sensors are behind the bumper which is pretty much unscathed

And FYI, it's an explosive charge that inflates the airbags 

I thought that the primary sensors were in the airbag ECU under the centre console with additional sensors in the doors for the side airbags.

I didn't think there were any other sensors

[TheBoy]

Well, at least the stag has saved you from having to fix the Stag

[Lazydocker]

Interesting that your car sustained that amount of damage, yet the airbags didn't go off.   

What sort of impact do they need to go off? And do they lose their sensitivity with age? 

Yes. This also surprised me.

Like everything else they must degrade with age. Maybe the gas leaks out if a seal goes or something. 

Not something I've thought about before. 

Simple really... The airbag sensors are behind the bumper which is pretty much unscathed

And FYI, it's an explosive charge that inflates the airbags 

I thought that the primary sensors were in the airbag ECU under the centre console with additional sensors in the doors for the side airbags.

I didn't think there were any other sensors

Perhaps there has been a change in technology but the impact detection always used to be in the front bumper

[Lazydocker]

Well, at least the stag has saved you from having to fix the Stag

Well... Only sort of... It may well be transferred onto the other one

[Doctor Gollum]

Actually their triggered by a G/inertia sensor under the centre console cubby

Solid bumper impacts at speed will fire them, hitting a deformable object with the equally deformable bonnet won't slow the car to any great degree, ergo, no airbags

[Lazydocker]

Actually their triggered by a G/inertia sensor under the centre console cubby

Solid bumper impacts at speed will fire them, hitting a deformable object with the equally deformable bonnet won't slow the car to any great degree, ergo, no airbags

Stand corrected... Much improved technology 

[78bex]

Thanks for sharing  I think that would have shook me up a bit
Glad you`re ok & kinda proves what I`ve always thought about bigger cars.

[henryd]

Thanks for sharing  I think that would have shook me up a bit
Glad you`re ok & kinda proves what I`ve always thought about bigger cars.

Not neccessarily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY

[Lazydocker]

Thanks for sharing  I think that would have shook me up a bit
Glad you`re ok & kinda proves what I`ve always thought about bigger cars.

Not neccessarily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY

Not really a fair comparison though... Different eras of motoring design and safety.

[citroenguy]

Having a big barge in these situations helps of course.
But the strength of the a-pillars and the design of the front is more important.
Here in the land of the moose it is a pretty common kind of accident. And moose are even bigger and heavier, we also get the stags and boars ofc.
This is one of the reasons SAABs and Volvo's have got strong pillars and roof.

[Doctor Gollum]

There was a very interesting supplement in Autocar about the Corsa D development just before it was launched... it was subjected to simulated animal impacts, basically driving it into a barrel sized horizontal tight bundle of sticks about 30" off the ground... completely trashed the headlights, radiator,  slam panel, bonnet and windscreen. All absorbing the impact beautifully. But the engineer was really narked because it also fired the airbags.

The reasoning being that in a worst case 'ohshitweregoingtodie' moment, the timing is critical as the airbags can only be fired once. The scenario he described was as follows.

Driving along a fast country road in the damp.
1. Driver loses control on a bend and clips the kerb.
2. Car launches from the road edge.
3. Car flies through a post and rail fence about a foot off the ground.
4. Car lands violently on a scrubby slope.
5. Car finally stopped by a hundred year old tree.

At which point do you need the airbag? Answer is 5. any other time is a wasted opportunity with fatal consequences... certainly 1. and 4. have scope for the driver to regain control... almost impossible if the airbag has fired. 2. and 3. simply don't warrant the airbag firing.

Have done 1. through 4. in a Vectra C without the airbags firing.

[Kevin Wood]

Have done 1. through 4. in a Vectra C without the airbags firing.

What? Number 1? In a Vectra? Surely not. 

[Doctor Gollum]

Thanks for sharing  I think that would have shook me up a bit
Glad you`re ok & kinda proves what I`ve always thought about bigger cars.

Not neccessarily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY

The design era, or rather the criteria that the car is designed to meet plays a big part... this crash looks far worse because the Modus is a smaller and taller vehicle with the absorption happening in a much smaller space, where as the apparent devastation of the Volvo is due to the impact being absorbed by an extra 18" or so more front end. Incidentally, the Modus is 300kgs lighter so will bear the brunt of the impact regardless of how little deformation occurs.

I know which car I would rather be in for that crash, and it's not the Renualt.

[Doctor Gollum]

Have done 1. through 4. in a Vectra C without the airbags firing.

What? Number 1? In a Vectra? Surely not. 

Missed the braking point on approach to the Beare Green roundabout not helped by the fact that when I stood on the brakes nothing happened. Straightlining two kerbs, two heavy landings and a post seemed preferable to rolling it trying to make the 60° turn onto the roundabout at speed.

Put in the same position again, God forbid, and I would do exactly the same again.