Put a deposit down on a Triton, now I find it has one airbag.

[stevenl]

There is no seatbelt pretensioner for front passenger in the one airbag model. I would pay the extra and go for the 4x4 model its more safer to drive too unless you use it only to slow city driving.

An extra 200,000 baht for something I will never use? Been here for 5 years and never been in a situation yet where I needed 4 wheel drive.

I had a pickup with 4x4, but since I hardly ever used it did not want to pay for 4x4 when I bought a new truck.

[stevenl]

but can your passenger?

Read the post #8 from Thailaw.

We all make our choices, and I agree your Triton is excellent value for money. If buying new I could also come to the same conclusion and buy a Trition.

But I think this quote from Thailaw 'airbags add very little safety/protection if the passenger is wearing a seat belt.' is not correct. The combination of seatbelt and airbag adds safety/protection, both are really needed.

I was involved in a serious accident in Australia where a vehicle crossed to the wrong side of the road and collided with me head on at a combined speed of 120 klms an hour. Both air bags deployed and I was restrained severely (black and blue for days) by my seatbelt, but I never came into contact with the airbag. The seatbelt pre-tensioners lock and prevent you moving forward. I'm sure there re situations where the airbags are essential, like if you forget to wear a seatbelt. The Triton in Australia has airbags for front and rear seat passengers as well as side curtain airbags, so do you feel safe with just front airbags?

I may be mistaken, but I think the BT50 has side airbags as well.

Anyway, enjoy your new car.

[Scotssing]

Read the post #8 from Thailaw.

We all make our choices, and I agree your Triton is excellent value for money. If buying new I could also come to the same conclusion and buy a Trition.

But I think this quote from Thailaw 'airbags add very little safety/protection if the passenger is wearing a seat belt.' is not correct. The combination of seatbelt and airbag adds safety/protection, both are really needed.

I did not say that front airbags, along with seatbelts, add no protection. I said that they add "little [additional] safety/protection". Side airbags can add significant additonal safety/protection accompanied by seatbelts. From a study reported by the American Journal of Epidemiology:

"To assess the efficacy of occupant protection systems, the authors measured the mortality reduction associated with air bag deployment and seat belt use for drivers involved in head-on passenger car collisions in the United States. They used a matched case-control design of all head-on collisions involving two passenger cars reported to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System in 19921997, and driver mortality differences between the paired crash vehicles for air bag deployment and seat belt use were measured with matched-pair odds ratios. Conditional logistic regression was used to adjust for multiple effects. There were 9,859 head-on collisions involving 19,718 passenger cars and drivers. Air bag deployment reduced mortality 63% ..., while lap-shoulder belt use reduced mortality 72% ..... In a conditional logistic model that adjusted for vehicle (rollover, weight, age) and driver (age, sex) factors, air bags ... and any combination of seat belts ... were both associated with reduced mortality. Combined air bag and seat belt use reduced mortality by more than 80%. Thus, this study confirms the independent effect of air bags and seat belts in reducing mortality."

So, in the most extreme case of head-on collisions, mortality reduction was increased from 72% with seatbelts alone to 80% with combined seatbelts and airbags. Note that the mortality reduction of airbags alone was only 63%, less than with seatbelts. So, if having airbags in the car/truck encourages passengers not to wear seatbelts, the airbags are in fact increasing the risk of injury. Are airbags a waste, even with seatbelts being worn? Obviously, not. But, as the study shows, the greatest reduction in mortality in severe head-on collisions is gotten by wearing a seatbelt. The severity of the injury is also an issue, but that is not discussed. In a significantly taller step-up truck, I think that the passengers are much safer than they would be in a car in any event. In the Triton, with seatbelts on and buckled, I feel that we are pretty well covered on the safety front.

Still you are safer with airbags and seat belts. Anyone who relies on airbags alone is a fool. I think I would prefer both plus all the other paraphernalia in modern vehicles like side impact strengthening etc. The 'it will never happen to me' is fine until the occasion you lose out

Furthermore as you say the study only looks at fatalities. Really that is the least of your worries. A permanent disabling injury is one you could do without

Yep in the past we did without all these safety devices and some people lost their lives. If I had the option I would want the additional airbags for me and whoever was in the cab with me

[Scotssing]

There is no seatbelt pretensioner for front passenger in the one airbag model. I would pay the extra and go for the 4x4 model its more safer to drive too unless you use it only to slow city driving.

An extra 200,000 baht for something I will never use? Been here for 5 years and never been in a situation yet where I needed 4 wheel drive.

I had a pickup with 4x4, but since I hardly ever used it did not want to pay for 4x4 when I bought a new truck.

4 wheel drive is not just for off roading. It gives you better grip in the wet and we certainly can get some horrendous rainstorms in Thailand. Of course better driving in slippery conditions is the first option

Probably 90% of those who have 4 x 4 capability never use it on otherwise impassable tracks or whatever. Still can be a nice thing to have. Whether worth the extra is your decision

[transam]

There is no seatbelt pretensioner for front passenger in the one airbag model. I would pay the extra and go for the 4x4 model its more safer to drive too unless you use it only to slow city driving.

An extra 200,000 baht for something I will never use? Been here for 5 years and never been in a situation yet where I needed 4 wheel drive.

I had a pickup with 4x4, but since I hardly ever used it did not want to pay for 4x4 when I bought a new truck.

4 wheel drive is not just for off roading. It gives you better grip in the wet and we certainly can get some horrendous rainstorms in Thailand. Of course better driving in slippery conditions is the first option

Probably 90% of those who have 4 x 4 capability never use it on otherwise impassable tracks or whatever. Still can be a nice thing to have. Whether worth the extra is your decision

I use it in the wet...........

[golden farang]

There is no seatbelt pretensioner for front passenger in the one airbag model. I would pay the extra and go for the 4x4 model its more safer to drive too unless you use it only to slow city driving.

An extra 200,000 baht for something I will never use? Been here for 5 years and never been in a situation yet where I needed 4 wheel drive.

I had a pickup with 4x4, but since I hardly ever used it did not want to pay for 4x4 when I bought a new truck.

4 wheel drive is not just for off roading. It gives you better grip in the wet and we certainly can get some horrendous rainstorms in Thailand. Of course better driving in slippery conditions is the first option

Probably 90% of those who have 4 x 4 capability never use it on otherwise impassable tracks or whatever. Still can be a nice thing to have. Whether worth the extra is your decision

My experience of rear wheel drive pick ups with powerful engine is that the rear has tendency to spin when slippery roads. One of my friends roll over his pickup because of this. Price difference of rwd and 4wd a/t seems to be 122k baht.

[kartman]

Went past a latest model DMax this morning being lift towed by Police lorry obviously had been involved in some aerobatics that involved it landing heavily on it's OSFwing area, drivers door also missing no evidence of airbag deployment.

[Ace of Pop]

The new L200 Trojan has PJS 4W.D.in Euro Spec as standard.Perhaps we get the same.

[bkkjames]

There is no seatbelt pretensioner for front passenger in the one airbag model. I would pay the extra and go for the 4x4 model its more safer to drive too unless you use it only to slow city driving.

An extra 200,000 baht for something I will never use? Been here for 5 years and never been in a situation yet where I needed 4 wheel drive.

I had a pickup with 4x4, but since I hardly ever used it did not want to pay for 4x4 when I bought a new truck.

4 wheel drive is not just for off roading. It gives you better grip in the wet and we certainly can get some horrendous rainstorms in Thailand. Of course better driving in slippery conditions is the first option

Probably 90% of those who have 4 x 4 capability never use it on otherwise impassable tracks or whatever. Still can be a nice thing to have. Whether worth the extra is your decision

I use it in the wet...........

And the mud.. When I can.

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