Payday Parking Pastime on 5th!

[Charles Scheepers]

It was a side impact. The airbag will only deploy with a front impact. Should the airbag deploy with a side impact it (airbag) will probably kill you.

Airbags is actually a very poorly understood subject. If you take a bakkie and fit a bullbar to it, you are screwing around with the factory test setting. Vehicles get safety tested without all the trimming people put on.

[Carl Wrbka]

Hi Charles,

Your reply makes absolute sense, but I don't think all vehicle manufacturers have got their airbag trigger mechanisms (accelerometers) completely sorted out yet. Front and side impacts seem to still be a "grey" area with VW. One of my colleagues in a VW Golf got side swiped at a robot last week. The impact was perpendicular to the passenger door behind the driver, and yet both front airbags deployed. Another colleague in a Polo went off the road into the veld and got smacked in the face by his airbag after being exposed to this off-road experience. 

Airbags myths are plentiful on the internet. Mythbusters recently had an airbag special on Discovery Channel. The myth was that holding your steering wheel in a certain way could result in you losing both your thumbs in an airbag deployment. I believe that myth was busted in the end.

[Michael Alexander]

Mmmmh! Rumour bird indicates that there might have been 4 "unofficial" parking pastimes this fine payday weekend in Oranjemund...

1) A tree with three
2) Cement barrier next to infamous speedbump
3) Car Glass scattered on the NW corner of St.George's Square
4) Street Sign bent over near the parking lot at Sportmans!

Yawn...... like gemsboks merging into the early morning mist...... nothing too see here, move along, move along!

[Sydney]

   i heard rumours that a  Toyota failed to stop in time in 8th avenue (east).  The driver slammed on his brakes for about 50meters before it stopped against a tree. Apparently the car is a write off

[Michael Alexander]

  i heard rumours that a  Toyota failed to stop in time in 8th avenue (east).  The driver slammed on his brakes for about 50meters before it stopped against a tree. Apparently the car is a write off

That would be incident number one...

[Paul Alexander]

I can confirm the barrier next to speed bump incident, saw the. Ehoe driving off after the. Rash, not too bad but will have some bumper damage

[Sydney]

   heard that a private volvo crashed against a namdeb combi last night in front of sportsmans?  any details?

[Adriaan Van Rooyen]

Mike,maybe its time to open a official crash site,.......

[Michael Alexander]

Not quite payday, a source informs me that a vehicle ploughed through a Stop Street and landed up in the school parking lot, destroying plants and pavements in the process..... this happened two days ago, anyone got something to add?

I also noticed a tonsil driving speeding down 7th avenue towards the Stop street opposite the post office in a long Canter truck belonging to a contracting company...... The guy had to have been doing 70km/hr about 120m from the Stop..... it is only a matter of time before one of these fella's is going to take a life....

[Sydney]

   apparently a BMW also overtook the bus (chevron) as he was coming from the sea