TECHNICAL

AIRBAG OUT OF ACTION

We were unlucky enough to be in a head-on collision with a vehicle on the wrong side of the road on the Zuurberg Mountain pass on 31 December 2017. We were lucky and came out with no apparent injuries. We were almost at a stop when the other vehicle collided with us at between 30 to 60km/h. We were in a 1999 Toyota Prado which had a reinforced nudge bar (10mm stainless steel plate) which reduced the damage to the vehicle considerably. The other vehicle – a Ford Kuga – was worse for wear and its airbags deployed. Ours did not.

Why is this? A few questions: Would that be due to the nudge bar, because the speed was too low for deployment, because our vehicle was at a stop, or because the damage did not reach the Prado’s crumple