Airbag question, short driver

So...I know that all of the literature says you should have 10 inches between your face or chest, and the steering wheel..right?

here is what has been bothering me. I am fat. And proportionally, i have a LOT of stomach fat(apple shape), such that i look pregnant or like a man with a beer belly, all the time, versus the more popular "pear" kind of fat that many women get, where their butt and thighs are huge but not as much their tummy.
My FACE and CHEST are 10 inches away from the steering wheel, because they are above it, so the measurement is mostly UP at an angle.
however...my stomach is pressed right up against the steering wheel. My flab literally rests on it, and is actually a bit squished, it has to be so i can reach the pedals. (I have really short legs).

So...if the airbag deploys..its going to come right out into my stomach, right? My stomach, which is ZERO inches away from the steering wheel.
Is there anythign that addresses this? I mean, America is basically waddling to its death right now, I'm not the only fat person out there driving, so I'm going to say a lot of people have their flabby tums resting on their steering wheels, even though their FACES are a foot above the steering wheel.

Wouldnt it be just as dangerous for the airbag to hit my stomach (and various soft, squishy, splattable internal organs) as it would my chest or face?
And what is the option here? (besides lose a hundred pounds?)

can we discuss, thoughts? Resources or info on this?

I'm a bit on the small side, so I can't have 10 inches between myself and the steering wheel and still reach the pedals. I also don't have a belly so nothing actually touches the steering wheel when I drive, but when I was hit head-on and totalled my van three weeks ago I didn't feel the airbag hit me. I was really glad that it kept my face from hitting the steering wheel, though. The other driver was a probably 300+ teenaged boy. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt to restrain him and only had a slight redness where the airbag hit his chest area. His truck was a 2000 model so the airbags weren't the newest technology either.

Does your steering wheel adjust so that it could be angled more upward than straight out at your belly? If so, it would really hit more of your breastbone and ribcage than your belly.

Which would you rather have hit your "various soft, squishy, splattable internal organs" - the cushioning airbag or the nonconforming steering wheel?

well, I got in a crash when I was 6mo pregnant with Damian... so I looked at least as big as you are (maybe bigger... I'm not a small woman)

and the airbag and seatbelt were prounounced wonderful by all the EMTs and the ER docs for keeping me from having any contracts, even though I was not having an easy pregnancy (I bled the 2nd two months, I was sick the rest, had high blood pressure and other issues that eventually ended up as pre-eclampsia, you get the idea).

not only did I not have a single contraction, but his heartbeat was still awesome and I only had a few marks on my hand from hitting the cracking windshield as I let go of the wheel (I don't need a broken wrist when I'm braking as it is) and a wrenched right knee from braking as I damaged my front end to total the car.

So I'm what you would call an airbag believer.

I'd been in the car times my mom almost got in crashes before and felt the belt and the amount you still move. with the airbag, yeah, there was a lot of pressure and it was sudden, but it helped keep me still.

Heck, when I got in my only other bad crash when I was 17, I didn't have an airbag and ended up with whiplash... that time a truck ran into the little two-door I was driving... took out the front and passenger side... oooh.

Anyway... my neck was just horrible the next day... things out of place in my whole spine.

Now, I do think a lot of that would have happened because it was not just front, but some from the side, but I think the deploying of an airbag would have helped to keep the movement to a minimum.

If you're as fat as you say, your vital organs have considerable insulation btw them and the air bag. Fat has mass. The air bag force has to go through your fat before it hits your vital organs. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

bobandjess99 said:

My FACE and CHEST are 10 inches away from the steering wheel, because they are above it, so the measurement is mostly UP at an angle.

can we discuss, thoughts? Resources or info on this?

Click to expand...

Well, I know some cars adress this now with adjustable pedals and/or steering wheel. I can push my steering wheel in further in my van (sienna 05) so that when I push my seat up to reach the pedals I don't end up squashed up against it.

I also think it's better to direct the steering wheel lower usually (?) rather than into your face...I mean belly flab as you say ;-) may sting when hit but it's not as dangerous to be punched in the stomach as to be punched in the nose or eyes for example.

Fio

In any SUV or truck I have to have adjustable pedels or I can't drive it. I am 5' 3" and have a hard time reaching the pedels if it wasn't for adjustable pedels. My Tahoe had them and any SUV/CUV I get will have to have them. My G8 doesn't but in a sedan for some reason I don't have as much of an issue. I think it has to do with the way you sit in a sedan compared to a SUV/CUV/van/truck.