 air bags and harnesses
The bulletin you are thinking of is an SCCA warning.
In some class of car, not related to what most people drive, they found that an air bag deployment could rotate a full face helmet downward, potentially breaking the lower jaw of the occupant.
The way I sit in my MINI it is more likely that the bag would rotate the helmet UP.
If you are using a Schroth, made for the MINI harness, it clips into the OEM belt using the Pyrotechnic belt tensioner. The car knows the belt is buckled, so it deploys the air bags at "user is belted" speed.
If you use other harnesses, and the car does not know it is there, the bags are deployed at "user is not belted" speed.
I use a Schroth, and a full face helmet. If I bang up the car bad enough to deploy the bags, the minor risk of breaking my Jaw is not going to be important to me! If I do get a damaged Jaw, it will keep me from yelling back at my co owner.
John |