Accidents can occur anytime and more often, they involve secondary collision, which can be lethal for the occupants. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 30 percent of accidents involve a secondary impact and when this happens, the regular airbags do not protect you. To handle such situations, Hyundai had introduced the world’s first multi-collision airbag system.
The multi-collision airbag system detects the position of passengers after the first collision and deploys the airbags quicker than the standard airbags. The system is helpful in situations when the regular airbags do not deploy because of minor first impact. So, here is how it works:
Unfortunately, you become a victim of an accident and your regular airbags did not deploy. As you are composing yourself and inspecting your injuries, a second collision occurs. This is the time when Hyundai multi-collision airbag system activates quicker than normal, taking into account your position on the wheels, which has been changed after the first impact.
According to NHTSA statistics, multi-collision accidents are very normal and involve vehicles crossing over the center line (30.8 percent). Other secondary collisions include an abrupt stop at highway tollgates (13.5 percent), highway median strip crashes (8.0 percent), and sideswiping and crashes with trees and electric poles (4.0 percent).
The new airbag system will be a part of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the future. The Korean automaker did not reveal the launch date.
Hyundai is working hard to make vehicles safer for the occupants. The automaker has already introduced panorama sunroof airbags, which activate during a rollover collision. “It resembles the curtain airbag that is deployed alongside the windows of the vehicle in a broadside collision,” as per the automaker. “If the turning angle of the vehicle is changed due to a rollover accident, the sensor detects it, and the inflator deploys the airbag.”