New Honda Airbag Design Technology
Did you know that the humble three-point seatbelt required in all passenger vehicles in the United States is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year? This gigantic leap forward in automotive safety has saved untold thousands, if not millions, of lives on American road during the last six decades. Honda has done the necessary work to make itself an industry leader in automotive safety. That is exactly what makes the news about the new Honda airbag design technology all the more exciting. To be sure, airbags have played an important role in supplementing the seat belt in protecting passengers in an accident. However, this is an area of vehicle development that should never slow down; and Honda has shown no signs of doing that. Let’s see what they built now.
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At the most basic level, the new Honda airbag will work the same way as previous versions. However, it will offer more protection in frontal and forward angled collisions. Additionally, the new three-paneled airbag is meant to offer better protection should the equipped Honda vehicle strike an object that isn’t another vehicle.
“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,” Jim Keller, President of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. said in a press release.
The new Honda airbag is built from three inflatable chambers, a center panel and two laterally-positioned ‘sail panels.’ According to information released by the automaker, the way this works is seemingly pretty easy. When a passenger’s head impacts the center panel, the side sail panels will essentially collapse inward to offer additional deceleration and better overall protection. Honda compares this to how a catcher’s mitt works.
Honda’s development of this new airbag technology is just the latest step in trying to perfect its ‘Zero Collision Society.’ Previously we have brought you news about the automaker’s research into smart intersections. Also, most new Honda vehicles available in the Meridian Honda showroom are available with the Honda Sensing® suite of active safety systems.
If you’d like to learn more about how Honda cars, trucks and SUVs can protect you and your family, schedule a test drive with a Meridian Honda product expert today.
