If safety is a major concern of the auto industry, why aren`t side impact air bags standard as well as abs?
If there ever was a safety feature that has proven to save lives, airbags would fall under that category, and there is no reason why the price/cost couldn`t be incorporated into the price of a car, and no if ands or buts on whether we want them, just like other items.
(Seatbelts, taillights, headlights, safety latches on the hood, and crumple zones)
All these things come on all modern cars, because they have shown they`re effectiveness in the attempt to save life and limb.
When I see the cry for running boards to be mandatory, I wonder, why not safety features, not cosmetics?

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:roll:
Subject too deep for you, or are you waiting for a lock???

Not to deep for me. Could be waiting for the lock, as it just seems like you are posting this to poke at others, and as stated in another thread seems your acting a little childish today because you dont agree with someone else.

I would have got them had I ordered my HHR. It wouldn't be for safety though, just the insurance discount. ;) I don't think they need to be standard.

While I agree they should be standard, they will not be until they are required to be. Seat belts were't standard until they were required. Either way we will pay for them, it will just be added into the base price. now those who can't spend the extra cash, don't have to.

I'm all for standard side air bags as well as ABS. I saw so much during my career as a firefighter that nobody should see. Not that all of the extras will save everyone but they sure would help the majority.

I'm all for them being standard in any car. There are so many nuts out there these days on the road, every safety precaution should be taken to protect ourselves and the little people we carry in our vehicles.

Really could have done w/o the comment about the running boards here. :poke:

After I did research on the HHR, before I went to the Dealer, the options that I wanted and ordered were:
2.4
Auto
Side Air Bag Curtains
Bright Chrome Pkg.
Running Bds.
And I did not take anything less.
It was a no Brainer for me, the more safety, the better.
I had them on my Explorers as well.

BB does have a point with the running board comment. Most of the issues people worry about are trivial and cosmetic issues not major vehicle malfunction or safety issues. I'm not saying the comment was right but it's true. ;)

Not to deep for me. Could be waiting for the lock, as it just seems like you are posting this to poke at others, and as stated in another thread seems your acting a little childish today because you dont agree with someone else.
Pot, Kettle, Black

Until we all say we want safety not looks, when we all stop saying it won't happen to me I'm a good driver. when we all say I don't mine paying for it, and alot of folks can't. As you can tell they want FREE side steps after the fact. Alot of pepole don't use seatbelts or use them wrong [under arm, to loose. to high on there hips ect.ect. Here in FL. they did not pass mant. seatbelt law, cammras at stop lights for red light running! But the same pepole pass a NASCAR TAG you can get for your car

Until we all say we want safety not looks, when we all stop saying it won't happen to me I'm a good driver. when we all say I don't mine paying for it, and alot of folks can't. As you can tell they want FREE side steps after the fact. Alot of pepole don't use seatbelts or use them wrong [under arm, to loose. to high on there hips ect.ect. Here in FL. they did not pass mant. seatbelt law, cammras at stop lights for red light running! But the same pepole pass a NASCAR TAG you can get for your car
What`s a NASCAR TAG?

What`s a NASCAR TAG?

I was wondering the same thing myself. :confused:

Here in FL. when you get your tag you can pay more for a vanity tag like save the beach, save the panther,what school you went to or are going to,we have over 100 and now a NASCAR one

When I got my HHR, I thought abs was standard, I have boards, wished I had abs about a week after I got the Cruck. Luckily I still stopped in time, and could maneuver. Boards really wouldn`t have mattered.

Here in FL. when you get your tag you can pay more for a vanity tag like save the beach, save the panther,what school you went to or are going to,we have over 100 and now a NASCAR one

Ah...I get it. I think we have them here in NY too.

When I got my HHR, I thought abs was standard.

ABS is standard if you have a 2LT with automatic. It came standard on my HHR.

Here in FL. when you get your tag you can pay more for a vanity tag like save the beach, save the panther,what school you went to or are going to,we have over 100 and now a NASCAR one
Yeah, Il. has a lot of those VANITY type plates going on.
They`re dangerous, if at first glance you can`t make out the issuing state, you could miss the moment to i.d. a runner. (hit and run)
My son had a hit-n-run a couple weeks ago, cost $500.00 deductable for claim.

ABS is standard if you have a 2LT with automatic. It came standard on my HHR.
I have a 1LT. Didn`t do my homework.
I bet I could pay to get some though. Next ride...:lol:

I'm sure the standard ABS on the 2LT helps to drive the price up. I know I paid for them even though I didn't order them. ABS is another option I would have ordered only for the insurance discount had I ordered my HHR and if they not been standard on an automatic 2LT.

ABS is also standard on the 2LT with the 5 sd. To get the OnStar I also had to order the side airbags. Now with OnStar standard on Saturns do they come standard with the side airbags?

Pot, Kettle, Black


My point about childish

My thoughts are that people need to make informed choices about where they spend their money. Not just throwing money at the first car they see, or falling in love with the looks of THAT car, but really consider the money-losing investment they're about to make.

When I bought my HHR, I knew exactly what I was getting. It was October of '05 and there weren't too many around, so I could settle for not having running boards, ABS, or side curtain airbags. Would I do that now? Probably not. For me it was that I simply knew I'd have to sacrifice a few things I didn't really care about to get the car I wanted now.

Of course, my insurance is higher without ABS or the side airbags, and I have a little clouding of paint on my lower door that's about the size of a quarter. But I still have an '06 DBM 2.4A 1LT! And I love every minute I spend driving it.

My point about childish
Obviously you just want to make asinine comments, no input. The first post you made was unnecessary, you didn`t even make a vote. You had no real opinions in any of the discussions of the day, and you continue to lurk possibly to start a problem with me.
I except PM`s, we can air this out there.

My thoughts are that people need to make informed choices about where they spend their money. Not just throwing money at the first car they see, or falling in love with the looks of THAT car, but really consider the money-losing investment they're about to make.

When I bought my HHR, I knew exactly what I was getting. It was October of '05 and there weren't too many around, so I could settle for not having running boards, ABS, or side curtain airbags. Would I do that now? Probably not. For me it was that I simply knew I'd have to sacrifice a few things I didn't really care about to get the car I wanted now.

Of course, my insurance is higher without ABS or the side airbags, and I have a little clouding of paint on my lower door that's about the size of a quarter. But I still have an '06 DBM 2.4A 1LT! And I love every minute I spend driving it.
Yeah, Mrs. B/B asked me to take her to see a HHR, I did, I already had a car, she wanted it, so there.
My main function is to keep it nice and shiney.
When I really started looking at things like airbags and abs, the ride was in the garage. They were on the car with the 2.4L, but she didn`t care about hp. "It`s for Cruisin`, not racin`":lol:

When I bought my 2006 1LT, to get the side airbags ($400), you had to also order the ABS ($400). I ordered both on mine. This means that (at least in 2006) side air bags really cost $800 extra on the LS and 1LT models.

One of the ironic things that researchers have found is that the more safety items that people have on their cars, the more chances they take. People with ABS believe they will be able to stop much faster, so they follow closer. Now they are claiming that stability control on all vehicles will save 10K lives per year. The real number will probably be much lower, as people will push their cars harder, believing that the computer will save them from losing control. Look at the numbers that safety experts claim on lives saved for each of the major safety developments compared to the actual numbers once the devices became commonplace.

Steve

I agree that the side airbags should be standard and not an option...or the dealers should order all their cars with them. That way, the people who buy off the lot would get them as well. Just explain to the buyer that they are concerned about customer safety and I'm sure they wouldn't get much resistance when dealing ib a car.

As some of you did...I bought my car off the lot and did not order it from the factory. I didn't want to wait for one to come in, plus I would have probably ordered more stuff that I didn't really need because I could. Had mine come with the side air bags, I would have gladly paid for them when I purchased the car.

To me, and my opinion only, side air bags are not a proven feature. If they were, they would be standard like front air bags (remember when only the driver had one?). It was not an option I even considered. Ever walk through the lots at body shops and notice how many hard hit cars the air bags didn't even deploy. And the ones that barely creased the bumper they did.

I've owned more cars without ABS than with, nice feature, but not necessary IMO. I drove for 12 years in the rockies, slid off the road once in my non ABS Mustang.

Sometimes a better drivers training is better than relying on sensors and relays.

Solman.....

I guess your thinking in the same direction I am.

I may be mistaken..... isn't the HHR's 5 star crash rating based on a vehicle with ONLY the standard front bags?? Anyone know what the rating is with and without the side curtain bags and their expected performance???

Maybe the bags are just "a nice to have".......kind of like the assist steps;) :p: :lol: :D :D

The five-star rating doesn't consider the side airbags. Side star ratings are based on estimated chest injuries and the HHR only has curtain airbags that protect the head.

More info:
http://www.safercar.gov/NCAP/Cars/3679.html

I wonder if side air bags could be problem in some situations. Have you noticed that there aren't rear thoracic airbags? I would think that they could be a problem with child seats.

Well side curtain airbags are a good idea.

But I wonder what is the cost to the manufacturer?

If we insist on more and more items being "standard" we will just push up the base price.

In retrospect, on balace part of my choice of the HHR was 5 Star crash award plus the 4 Star for NOT tipping over!

What are the statistics on side curtain airbags?

What automobile magazines have published articles in the last year please?

I love my HHR it is SO useful.

I was forced to sleep in it the other night due to a party at the house. With the windows slightly cracked and with a nice futon, a good pillow, and a blanket it was perfect and I am 6 foot tall.

Best Wishes to all fellow HHR folks :bow:

astonmartin7

I went for the 2LT as it HAD the airbags standard and I think they will be useful if we ever get into a horrible impact situation.
Also, we wanted a loaded one because, well, just because:lol:
I would have said "Because our other car is a Buick", but we traded it two weeks back for a Honda Minivan. But that's another thread..........

I've had ABS on a couple of previous autos and am still not sold on it. The car simply keeps moving which is not how I learned to panic stop. I make my car go sideways and sacrifice the tires if I have to. ABS makes that kind of difficult and keeps me going forward. I am still trying to adjust to ABS after ten years with it.
I remember the insurance discount was large when ABS first came out. Then as statistics came in which showed that ABS allowed cars to collide with each other since it never really stopped the car, the discounts vaporised. After all, cars were still colliding and insurance companies had to pay for sheet metal.

Still, I guess it slowed the cars down better than an average driver could have so perhaps bodily injury went down. :confused: Still, I do not believe there is any discount with my last two insurance companies for ABS like there once was.

That said, my neighbor has a Civic with just the usual frontal airbags. She was sitting at a stoplight when she was rear ended then pushed into another car in front of her. No airbags went off, and she went to the hospital on a stretcher. :eek:


So I guess airbags and their sensors are simply window dressing that we pay for at times and they will not always perform.
To all who feel they can push their car more than ever because they depend on these and other safety features to save them, I would say, " You're living on borrowed time, Slow down."

But both our daily driver's have ABS and all the airbags that are made for each auto ( HHR and Odyssey ). If all the airbags deploy the cost of just replacing them and some body damage would likely total any newer auto with a few miles on it.
THAT is my biggest complaint with airbags, the cost of replacing them often makes a high mileage car get totaled and taken away from you by the insurance company. A lot of decent cars go to the scrapyards early these days.:roll:
No free rides these days on our most depreciating of all commodities, our daily drivers.

MY 06 2LT did not have the side airbags as standard. They were an option and had to on the HHR to get OnStar.

http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/5/9/8/elantra.jpg

I used to be sales for Hyundai, while on a test drive with a customer, he pulled out infront of a Buick Rendezvous going about 50 miles per hour. The side impact airbag, helped me from becoming unconsious (spelling?) and blacking out. My head bounced off it (the side impact airbag).

Having not been in any accidents in my driving career (lucky me) I worry the effectiveness of any air bag system as the car ages. Are air bags still working after 10 years?

I grew up riding in cars without padded dashes, no seatbelts, no airbags, no collapseable steering wheels.

Do you want a car with crash resistant built in roll cages? If speed kills, maybe cars should have governors on them so that you cannot drive over 70 mph. How much safety do you need mandated, rather than using defensive driving techniques?

if you want to save lives... raise gas prices another 2 dollars a gallon... fatalities for June and July were the lowest since the sixties. they say... but not sure... it s because the kids and old foogies can t aford to go anywhere.