Airbag Recall
 

Mercedes-Benz Recalls 841,000 Vehicles for Takata Airbags - News - Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog

Checked with dealer....info not in their system yet....will take a couple of weeks.

Easiest to check here: https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/recall

Our beloved CDI's may be among those affected.

Airbags? I ain't got no airbags. I don't need no airbags. I don't have to show you any stinkin' airbags.

On some car sites I visit, people say they won't drive their classic car because it is so unsafe without air bags. I point out that the federal airbag mandate was either airbags or automated seat-belts because intent of an air bag is to protect an unbelted occupant (how they are still tested). So, if you add a shoulder belt you are about as protected, according to the feds. Add the "shoots shrapnel at your neck" and "breaks necks of infant or short person" and an air bag isn't always a benefit. Also, both are only useful for drivers who run into things (me never). I won't disable my air bags, but don't feel too risky driving my cars that don't have them. Side air bags would be more beneficial to me because idiot uninsured drivers keep running into the sides of my vehicles (or the rear).

@BillGrissom
The intent of an air bag is not at all to protect an unbelted occupant. That might have been the case in the early 1970's, when seatbelt usage was quite low and the car industry was looking for ways to better protect the occupants.

However, today air bags are not viewed as seat belt replacements anymore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag#As_a_supplement_to_seat_belts

Not wearing a seat belt in a car with airbags will actually increase your risk of getting hurt:
https://ohsonline.com/articles/2008/03/study-airbag-use-without-seatbelt-increases-injury-risk.aspx
http://www.genins.com/img/~www.genins.com/personal%20lines%20articles/using%20airbags%20without%20seat%20belts%20increases%20risk%20of%20spinal%20cord%20injury.pdf

Do the sensible thing: Wear your seat belt. It is supposed to work together with the airbag; one does not replace the other.


As far as old cars without airbags go: I drive them. No problem. But of course, I am a superior driver. It's just that everybody else on the road drives like an idiot...:)

Might be time to take the CDI in for some warranty work then, huh?:)

If I got hit by a truck, SUV or other large vehicle, I would rather be in my 4,500 pound 300D with a seat belt and shoulder harness than in a Mini Cooper, VW Beetle or Smart Car with an air bag. I saw a video of a demo off center front end collision between a Mercedes sedan and a Smart Car. The Mercedes had some damage but the Smart Car pretty much rolled away like a billiard ball.

When I saw the title to this post, "Airbag Recall" I thought it was perhaps about one of the political candidates pulling out of the presidential race. :)

If one reads further down in the wikipedia article that Ceristimo links, you will find exactly what I stated:

... Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (FMVSS 208) ... An airbag or a seat belt would meet the requirements of the standard. ... bags be engineered and calibrated to be able to "save" the life of an unbelted 50th-percentile size and weight "male" crash test dummy.

For sure an airbag helps even if you are belted, if you are stupid enough to run into something. I don't think they are designed to deploy in a rear impact, and wouldn't help much there anyway. For some reason, idiots keep running into the rear of my vehicles. Perhaps stopping at stop signs in CA confuses them.