WEBVTT - How Airbags Work 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from how Stuff Works 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:12.920 dot Com. Hey you, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.800 Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.959 Jerry and this is Airbags Airbags. Addition, I'm surprised we 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.279 haven't done this one yet. It seems so stuff you 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.760 should Know and it's just been sitting out there ready 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.960 to explode in your face. Yes, hopefully in the best 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.280 way possible. Uh. And I also had a bit of 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.519 a hard time because this article we should mention is 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:42.839 from Marshall Brain, who is the original inventor of the 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.920 house Stuff Works website ninety years ago in his k Yeah, 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.360 so he used to write everything and then boy it's 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.920 been through so many changes since then. But this article 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.160 that was uh, Like he keeps talking about like looking 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:01.319 forward to and what's in or for its, So it's 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.200 kind of hard to find out what was still legit 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:05.679 and what wasn't. But I got the nuts and bolts 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.800 of it. I think what's weird is it seems like 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.679 a lot of the regulation is exactly the same. Yeah, 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:13.880 which is I mean, I like I ran in the 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:15.920 same thing too, Like I I go look up stuff, 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:17.920 and I'd be like, well, wait, they're saying the same thing, 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.919 but this says two thousands sixteen or two thousand eighteen 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.720 or something. I don't think regulations have changed all that much. 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:25.360 I think you're right. I got tripped up a little 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:31.959 bit with the UM factory installed off switch for passenger side, 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.720 and I finally figured all that out. I think, save it. 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:40.480 It's gold so exciting. Just wait, what's weird? Is this 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.760 is the stuff you should know? Topic? Um? I just 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.400 realized how boring stuff you should know can be. Chuck. 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:53.880 Let's start with history, shall we. Yeah. So, apparently when 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.280 I think of air bags, I think of like the nineties, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.720 that's airbag erra to me. Um, no, that there have 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.640 been airbags and cars in the United States going back 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:08.080 to the seventies as far as like mass produced, commercially 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.919 available air bags, especially driver's side, And then I think 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:14.880 even a little later in the seventies, um passenger side 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.600 airbags came around. I had no idea. You know, well, 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.760 you hate Chevy Chase, right. Have you ever seen Vacation 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:26.239 the first one? There's an airbag in there that Yeah, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.440 he jumps over the gulch and crashes his car, and 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.320 as he's opening his door, the air quote unquote airbag 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.760 goes off, which is clearly like a trash bag, and 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.880 it's clearly coming from outside the car on the ground 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.920 because he opens the door and it comes up really quick. 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.239 Like they couldn't figure out a way even in a 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:46.720 three to make it look like it came out of 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:48.720 the steering right. The director was like, is that what 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.240 an airbag looks like? In the special effects guys like 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:53.600 do you know what an airbag looks like? Yeah? And 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:58.079 do you have any more blow? Um? I don't know 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.000 if that was Chevy Chase base or just making movie 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.600 in the eighties, making movies in the eighties. The cocaine reference. 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:08.680 Oh yeah, that was everything in the eighties. Um. But 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:13.519 apparently when was it nineteen fifty three that an engineering 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.000 tech from Pennsylvania named John Hetrick put a patent on 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.840 a design for what he called a safety cushion assembly 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.560 for automohive automotive vehicles. He said, automohive. Maybe that's where 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.680 he went wrong because he took it to Ford and 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.760 GM and Chrysler, and of course they were all like me. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.920 If you listen to our Pinto episode They're like, uh, 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.960 we got cars that are killing, burning people alive. You 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.600 think we care about your air bags? They there, he 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.000 just got crickets back. Yeah, you got nothing. And it 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.680 stayed that way until another guy from the Pinto episode, 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:51.200 Ralph nader Um, wrote in his book Unsafe at Any 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:55.080 Speed that air bags, along with seat belts and conjunction 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.200 of seat belts, would save lives big time. And he 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.600 was right, actually even still to this day. Um the 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:07.320 sweet spot for surviving a terrible crash is seat belt 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:13.240 in an air bag, both working perfectly to save your life. 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:19.400 But the idea behind um air bags was well, seat belts, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:24.560 I think became uh um part of federal regulations in 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:30.080 the United States and five sixty seven as an installed 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.719 but like no one war him right, there was no 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.200 law that said you had to wear them for many, 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:37.800 many years, and so only about a quarter of Americans 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.880 wore them. So people were still dying in carrex even 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.000 though their cars had seat belts, because they weren't wearing 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.120 them because they were idiots. So people said, well, maybe 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.880 we'll put in these airbags. These are passive safety features. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.880 A seat belt is technically an active safety feature because 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.400 unless you have one of those where like you'd open 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:01.080 the door in the yeah, and then you close it 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.479 and go over. You forgot about those. Even still you 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.039 had to do the lap belt part yourself. So that's 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:09.440 technically act. You have to do something to put it on. 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.920 Air bag is different where you are just sitting there 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:14.840 and it does it whether you want it to or not. 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.120 It's a passive safety feature. So they said, well, maybe 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.600 if we put air bags in, it will save lives, 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.400 and so they started putting air bags in. Yeah, and 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.240 then I'm sure even back then there were people that 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:30.480 like government regulating, socialists trying to save me. Yeah, I 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.760 can't even turn off this air bag. It's a good 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:37.000 whale and Jennings, I wish I could do a good 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.880 whale and Jennings, I wouldn't be doing the show. Let's 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.480 be out on the road really with my act. Oh yeah, 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.680 that hurts. I'd bring you along, okay, you'd be little whale, 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:54.960 I'd say, whale and Jennings, Um, so I think, uh, 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:59.359 starting in what like, they started putting them out and 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.240 finally in the seventies and the eighties. But when they 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:09.160 sign is when they said finally all new cars gotta 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.560 have these air bags. Yeah, for for the frontal airbags 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.279 at least for the driver and the passenger side funnel 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.039 air Yeah, it was still a little bit before the 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.480 side impact bags were mandatory. And they said, okay, well, 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.960 everybody saved. The world is saved because we have airbags now, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.520 so no one's ever going to die in a crash. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.320 And then people started saying, wait a minute, um, I 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.200 I just read about this person who was an a 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.440 fender bender and their air bag went off and it 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:37.039 killed them. What about that? And so they started looking 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.000 into airbags a little bit and they said, oh, okay, 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:40.800 well maybe this is something what you call a work 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.640 in progress. And still to this day, air bred air 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.440 bag technology, this passive safety technology is a work in 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:53.279 progress because part of airbag technology is also educating the 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.200 public and how to use it correctly. Because an air 0:06:56.240 --> 0:07:00.640 bag is not a soft little pillow that you you're like, well, 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.400 after this crash, I guess I let's take a nap here. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.960 It's a it's a it's basically like a punch to 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:11.160 your face. YEA that inflates very quickly, um, and is 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.960 meant to keep you from eating the steering column, which 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.160 apparently you can do and a high enough speed crash 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.040 your seatbelt. Even when you're wearing it correctly and you're 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.880 sitting where you're supposed to be, you can still be 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.040 forced into the steering column. The point of the air bag, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.760 especially for the driver, is that you, Um, it provides 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.960 a barrier between you and the steering calm. It's not 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.440 a comfortable barrier, but it's a barrier that will keep 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.440 your chest from caving in. Yeah. And obviously people are 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.000 more at risk if you're you know, let's say you're 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.000 a little short stuff and you gotta hike that seat 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.040 way forward in order to drive, you're that much closer 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.560 physically to the steering column. Um. And so the air 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.120 bag is meant to He's spent to help everyone, but 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:58.240 especially like people that are too too close for comfort. Yes, 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.400 but if you're sitting too clo to the steering column, 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.360 it can hurt you. Yeah, I think, what do they say, 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:06.840 get yourself ten inches back at least you? Oh wait, 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.880 we're getting weight ahead of ourselves here. Ten inches everyone, 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.920 it is ten inches. You're right. So, um, let's talk 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:17.440 about let's talk about the original UM idea for the 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.760 air bag. It was you take a thing of compressed 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.120 gas and you have an attached to like basically a 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.840 balloon or a bladder or something like that, or in vacation, 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:33.120 a hefty bag, and under the right circumstances like maybe 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:38.559 a crumple, that that compressed gases triggered and it blows 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.839 up the the balloon and you're saved. The problem is 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:47.040 is there's a lot of issues with this setup. Number one, 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.800 it doesn't work fast enough. The compressed gas still does 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.200 not work fast enough. This is original technology, like the 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.760 stuff they were working with in the seventies. They didn't 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:01.320 They had an idea that they wanted an inflatable bag, 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:02.840 but they didn't know how to do it quite yet. 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:07.600 So the original idea was compressed gas. You know, like um, 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.240 like a night like you're like a whippet, a giant 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.280 whipp it, like your whippe, you know, like what I've 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:15.560 got in my on the desk, whip it you do 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:20.120 in between during ad breaks with your cracker. Imagine the 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:24.160 cracker and a giant whipp it in your steering column. Yeah, okay, 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.960 that was basically the idea first and so one that 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.679 that whipp it wouldn't inflate the bag. Fast enough. That's 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.240 a big problem because if it doesn't inflate fast enough, 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:35.680 not only does it not keep you from hitting the 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.000 steering column, it can actually make it worse. There's this 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.560 I think it's like ten Amazing Facts or something about 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:47.199 airbags on Gelopnik and they have a video on there 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:51.160 and side by side it is side by side of 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:57.000 crash tests with the crash test dummies. Um. Yes, yeah, 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.640 they were like, we were so tired of your music 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.240 in this car, so they they it's side by side 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.280 with crash has dummies and one is an airbag that 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:10.120 deploys and in the right time. The other one is 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.600 an airbag that deploys late. And the one that deploys late, 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.199 the the dummies head goes forward right and then right 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.840 when it's about to hit the steering wheel, the air 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:25.640 black airbag inflates and it crushes the guy's head backwards 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.800 at like a ninety degree angle to where it's supposed 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.880 to be. And um, you're just like, oh, that's what 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.480 happens if the airbag deploys late. So the timing is 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.960 really everything. So the idea that it would deploy late 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.440 or not fast enough was not only not good enough, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.000 it was actually dangerous. Yeah, because the whole idea here 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:48.800 and sweet Marshall brain includes a whole bit on you know, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.760 the physics of a car crash. But it's worth noting that, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.040 you know, when you're driving and you hit something that's 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:58.439 um with your car, like head on, let's say, Uh, 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.520 everything wants to come to a complete stop that's in 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.679 that car, including your body in your face. Uh, so 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.480 you've you've only got a certain a very very very 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:12.640 small amount of time to get that bag fully safely inflated. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.880 As as your head is doing. It's final like alright, 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.839 this is where I want to stop, right exactly, It's 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:23.080 final resting point. So let's take a break and we'll 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:52.880 talk more about the physics of the car crash after all. Right, So, Chuck, 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.360 you're saying, like, in a car crash, the car stops 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.280 almost instantly from everything I've seen, Like it's it's so 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:03.080 close to instantaneous that the shorthand is it stops instantly, 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.160 but you're still moving forward. That's the point of your 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:10.520 seatbelt is to hold you in place. But the seatbelt 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.319 can cause all sorts of damage in and of itself, 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.920 but it's still better than just flying on buckled into 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:21.920 the steering column. Yeah, but like you can't um. It 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:27.120 takes time to stop everything, right, it's it is not instantaneous. No, 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:31.280 if it were instantaneous, you would crumple like the car. Right, 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.920 So you want they you want to be slowed down 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.839 and in a in a way that's so fast that 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.720 you don't hit the steering column but in but is 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.720 gentle enough that it doesn't just like cut you in 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:49.240 two bas Okay, it is extremely tricky. So what they 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.040 found out is that if you inflate an air bag, 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.480 you have to First of all, the air bag is 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.120 big enough that it basically has the distance between you 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.440 and the steering column that it's trying to protect you from. Yeah, 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.599 which is good, but that also means your face is 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:09.280 that much closer, which shortens that time. Even more shortens 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.400 the time that it can it can deploy in and again, 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.679 remember when you're talking about compressed gas, it just wasn't 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.880 fast enough. So they figured out that you need to 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:22.800 have an air bag basically get the input that a 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:27.800 crash is happening, and then deploy within about thirty thousands 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:31.600 of a second. So if you take one second, you 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.600 chop it into one thousand equal parts. You would tick 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.320 off thirty of them and still have nine hundred and 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:42.360 seventy left in that second before that airbag has done deploying. 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.880 That's how fast they have to deploy, which is astounding. 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.040 It's amazing that they can do that, but they can 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.160 do it. They finally figured it out, and the way 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.120 that they figured it out was instead of using compressed gas, 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.320 using basically the same thing that they used to power rockets, 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.560 basically solid rocket fuel. Yeah. I mean it's just that 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.760 you it that Um was that vice you said that 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.199 one articles a scientific American? Yeah, yeah, where they basically said, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.960 for all practical purposes, is a small explosion goes off? 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.440 Oh that one was wired Oh yeah wired y Yeah, 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.000 like a small explosion goes off in your steering wheel 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:17.240 or I guess on the passenger side in the in 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.560 the dashboard to make this happen, And that in and 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.960 of itself is can be dangerous. It definitely can be. 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.840 And um, they've actually kind of got the chemistry down 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:31.360 so that, uh, it's as non dangerous as possible when 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:36.000 everything's working correctly. But they start with something called sodium 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:41.640 as i'd, which is basically um, sodium and nitrogen compound, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.080 and when it's just sitting there in its powdered form, 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:48.840 it's pretty stable. It's fine. But if you apply enough 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.960 heat to it, I think three d degrees celsius, which 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.800 is pretty hot, it it breaks down. It decomposes, and 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.160 when it decomposes it breaks into two different things. One 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:03.000 is night drogen gas and the other is um sodium, 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.360 just plain old sodium metals. And the nitrogen gas gets 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.200 way bigger than the little handful of sodium aside that 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.680 it grew from. The nitrogen is what is in that bag, 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:18.720 essentially like filling it up so quickly. The nitrogen gas 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.920 that that grows, Yeah, but isn't a side sodium aside toxic, 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:24.960 so they have to add other things in there. So 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:29.600 the sodium aside itself isn't toxic. But the sodium metals 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.920 that is a byproduct incid ignites, they're not actually toxic either. 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.480 But when they combine with water, like water vapor in 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.720 the air, it becomes sodium hydroxide a K A LIE. 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.479 So you don't want LIE flowing through the passenger compartment 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.000 because you're gonna get chemical burns right after your air 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.920 bag goes off. So they add other stuff like potassium 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:55.120 nitrate I believe to um combine with the salt the 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.880 sodium um to render it inert and then actually produce 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.560 even more nitrogen. Right, So it's filling up a bag 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:06.120 made of nylon fabric that has folded into that steering well. 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.960 I think there's like talcum powder and stuff to keep 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.520 it supple. Yeah, And if you've ever I mean, I've 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.880 never had an airbag deploy, thankfully while I was in 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.600 a car. But uh, I know that powder is like 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.720 a big part of it, right from what I hear. 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.239 That's what I hear. Uh. And then there's a sensor 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.280 like here's the thing. Everything has to go perfectly because 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.480 you don't want it to go off when it shouldn't um, 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.160 because that's no good. So I think it has to be. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.000 Is it still accurate to say it's ten to fifteen 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.920 miles an hour hitting a fixed like wall? Essentially? That 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.240 was I think that's all right? Is it? They've decompressed 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.280 that since then they have it, It's it's much less 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:50.760 um rigid. Okay, So when you when your car hits 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:55.520 something and stop, suddenly, there's an accelerometer that's measuring the 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.680 deceleration and like five different factors. Okay, yeah, like you 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.200 just went from thirty to zero so fast. We know 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.119 that you've been in a wreck. And it's measuring not 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.320 just this direction, but also that direction to that direction 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.399 to make sure that what's going on is an actual 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.240 like front frontal crash. It sends this data, this raw 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.520 data to a micro controller, a little tiny computer in 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:21.359 your car. Actually that's part of the air bag um assembly, 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.240 and the microprocessor runs this data through an algorithm. The 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.440 algorithm decides whether it's a front and crash or not, 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.359 and if it is, then it deploys the air bag. 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.159 What it does is it sets off an electric circuit 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.120 which goes and ignites a little charge which blows up 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:43.280 that sodium hayzide, which then blows into nitrogen gas. Happens 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.159 in thirty thousands of a second. Yeah, Like, if you 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:51.719 ever I mean, we've certainly gone over enough amazing like 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.760 inventions of mankind through the show. But if you ever 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.639 doubt just how brilliant human kind is, Like look at 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.600 the air bag. Especially engineers, you know, unbelieve off to 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.760 to walk that line of doing this safely because they 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.040 could have given up and been like, cheez, I don't 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:07.520 think we can. There's no way we can get it 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.440 done that fast safely. Yeah, Like, let's think of another idea. 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:13.639 But they were like, no, let's stick with the air 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.800 bag naders on us. They said, go get the engineers. 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:20.639 So that's the new way of doing it. Apparently the 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.760 old way, according to Canada's transportation website, there would be 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:29.159 a little hollow tube with a ball bearing held in 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.920 place at the end by a magnet. Really, and when 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.200 the car was hit hard enough, the ball bearing would 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.520 be jarred loose from its position. Roll down the right, yeah, 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.880 roll down the tube, and then um complete an electrical 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.040 circuit that would send the ignition or ignite the ignition charge. 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.600 That sounds too much like a Rube Goldberg, which definitely does. 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.160 I think they're like, we can improve on Yeah, geez, 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:00.880 that's scary. Um all right, I guess we should talk 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.359 a little bit about the the ten inches and the 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:11.360 safety concerns. So apparently placing yourself ten inches from you're 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:14.080 steering the front of your steering will the the center 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:17.560 I guess, or that thing pops out is plenty of 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.720 room because they say the first the risk zone is 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.400 two to three inches. Uh, So they say get back 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:26.280 at least ten inches. And if you're like my mom 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:28.320 has a little short stuff, and like every time I 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.399 go to move her car, I'm just like, are you 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.600 kidding me? And I'm not even big, and I'm like, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.240 you can't even get in the thing. Um. But they 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:37.560 say to scowed back as far as you can and 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.159 still drive normally. Uh. And then if you need to 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.679 even tilt that seat back a little bit just to 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:45.760 get yourself in that sweet spot. Yeah, if you if 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.800 you have to be, if your seat has to be 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:51.600 as close as possible, at least till your your chair back. Yeah. 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:53.639 And then if you can get it further back, but 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.440 now you're too low you need if you can raise 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:00.000 your seat automatically, do that too. Marshall Brain even said 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:01.919 get a pad to sit on if you have to. 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.280 And it's true. You also want to till your steering 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.080 whill so it's facing your chest rather than your head. Yeah, 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.240 which is I mean, surely you do that anyway. I 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:13.760 actually went and double checked mind. I was like, okay, 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:15.840 I do. Yeah, I'm a tilt down all the way 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.679 just because it's more comfortable. Um, But some people I 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.760 think have it upward and it's just sitting there blasting. Yeah, 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:25.840 but it's like you're driving in front of a loaded gun, 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:28.679 with your face in front of a loaded gun. So 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:30.840 you want to do it correctly because you kind of 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:35.480 are uh. For kids, they're a whole host of concerns 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:39.679 for children, and air bags have killed children, uh in 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.720 the past, And I mean, go and look up all 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.479 the rules yourself. Don't base your life and your children's 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.520 safety on anything we say. But I think that uh, 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:55.240 I think the current laws or recommendations are, Um, if 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:58.359 you're under twelve, you you should be in the back 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:02.040 seat period. Yes, like you shouldn't be riding in the 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.440 front seat, which is way different than when we were kids. 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:08.280 Oh yeah, you'd be like bouncing around, like with your 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:13.280 hands on the dashboard as like a five year old. Yeah, 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:15.680 it's just crazy how it used to be. Yeah. Man, 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.960 it's unbelievable. It's an unbelievable that any of us survived 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.080 to this point. Yeah, that's true. But that's when I 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:25.399 got a little bit confused about the passenger side on 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:28.800 off switch because starting at a certain point, they said, 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.560 all right, if you want to get an aftermarket switch 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.159 built in to turn off your air bag or the 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.239 passenger side, you have to fill out this application and 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:42.479 have a specific um qualifying I guess would you call 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:46.119 it a hardship, hardship or just reason? Yeah, a reason, 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.320 that's a good way to put it from. And they 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.920 range from like medical condition, sure, just to being too 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.200 small I think too write, or to having a car 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:56.639 where the back seat was too small to put a 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:01.439 rear facing um a kid seat. Yes. Yeah, if your 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.439 car was too small and you had to put your 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.040 kids kids seat in the front passenger um in the 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.479 front passenger seat, it was actually preferable to not have 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:14.320 the air bag there. Yeah. This is where I why 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:16.840 I got confused is because my pickup truck has that 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:20.840 on off switch factory installed. And I was just like, no, 0:22:21.920 --> 0:22:26.080 it's just factory installed in my truck. Talking, well, what 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:30.000 it is is I think all pickup trucks had them. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.600 Even though I could fit a kid's seat because I 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.040 have the little the back seat thing, I could fit 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:37.879 a kid's seat rear facing in my truck in the 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:42.920 back seat truck. But yeah, I'm a big, big dully right. 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:45.439 Emily saw one of those on the road. The thing 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:48.159 she's like, does anyone need those extra tires in the 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.439 back those four fifties for four fifties, I don't know, 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.480 but I was, you know, the duellis with the four 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:56.560 wheels in the back, and it's like it's not for show? 0:22:57.240 --> 0:22:59.280 Is that? I think that's actual has a reason. I 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.040 think for like heavy towing or heavy hauling. Oh I 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:06.080 think it's for show, is it? I think there's a 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:10.680 real reason. So you know how like no has ever 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:15.760 been off road? I think it's a similar principle, all right, 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:18.719 and and and hold your emails. I realized that like 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:21.720 the hum Vy has been off road. Do you know 0:23:21.760 --> 0:23:24.359