Travelling 3-400 miles plus most days of the week, apart from the benefit of sitting higher up I see the high use of phones, especially now where girls seem to put their phones on thighs or between legs whilst texting and the most annoying is the latest craze of people using i-pads and watching BBc i-player etc whilst driving ! REALLY unbelievable hopefully new fines will shock a few..

Another shocking trend is passengers in cars with feet on dashboards

Please please please if you see anyone doing this or kids or workman in a company van please warn them of the dangers !

When an airbag deploys depending on the load in the seat and whether its a dual air bag deployment the dash can fly-out at 300+ MPH. Now if feet are on the dash it catapults your feet up through the top of the screen and roof and decapitates the top half of the foot ! WARNING seriously graphic http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/foot-450x337.jpg
that is just the start.
Unfortunately as your feet are powered back your knees normally punch your eye sockets out ! then your ankles snap and due to such ferocity that your hip sockets can also snap.
The injuries are just horrific THEY are life changing.
There are one or two posts on you tube from people that have suffered the injuries and they are completely life changing !

The pictures and videos are extremely graphic and thought provoking but not recommended to view.

Airbag deployment on late vehicles is controlled by seat pad sensors, unfortunately there is a trend when seat pads fail & triggers an air bag fault some buy a cheap 3ohm resistor from e-bay to bypass this sensor ! what this means is that a dual airbag device will fully deploy with such ferocity it could kill ! this trend is mostly on BMW's as the deployment is not controlled by the loading in the seat.
If this saves one life then its done its job. Not enough warnings in hand books Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

I had sometimes wondered what would happen to people that do this and assumed that being folded in half and creased at the fold might have its consequences

Your description is certainly enough, I might just skip the video though!

I'll skip the video as well, but echo what's been said by old geezer. passengers have died as a result of putting their feet on a dashboard in an accident where they could have walked away instead of going into a zip up bag. Updated- Waiting for a Scotland v England 6 Nations home win. 24th Feb 2018
Gone-1972 88 SWB Soft top
Gone-1981 24v FFR Lightweight
Gone-2009 Freelander 2 TD4 GS manual
Gone before it bankrupted me- 2008 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto
2013 Freelander 2 SD4 GS Auto

Before air bags and modern windscreens I travelled thousands of miles with my bare feet on the windscreen (I add when being the passenger) or one hand on it when driving alone. Shock horror, let me explain further.

I did my 5 year apprenticeship with a bloke called John Millington, it was he who told me to do it when being on gravel roads and not long after I drove to the Himalayas and back over a few months.

He seems to know quite a few things about gravel roads and one of my claims to fame is I navigated for him on his first rally, we did though go through an hedge in his then very smart Hillman Imp

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/other/S...27b9896-ds FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Recall seeing a fabulous picture from the states back in the Ralph Nader safety years (that's early 70's) of an aerial shot of a very pretty lady driving a convertible Tbird across one of those long straight desert roads. Fab car, lady one arm over the wheel, other over the seat back, legs out straight on the bench seat, wearing a very flimsy scarf, big shades .. only. Ultra cool
Must try & find it via google ! FL2 Ex D2, D3, RRS, etc. now all gone.

Last edited by valleyforge on 23rd Feb 2017 2:17 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Thanks for this. My wife does it from time to time and I hate it. Now I have a very valid reason to stop her 👍🏻

In a similar vein, I've often wondered how those people who drive with their right arm across the wheel gripping it on the left side would fare in such a situation with the steering wheel airbag going off, a self inflicted punch in the face at the very least

I wear glasses and often wonder what damage they would cause?

I haven't had a passenger put her feet on the dash since I was at Leeds polytechnic 40 odd years ago  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Last edited by MartynB on 23rd Feb 2017 8:35 pm. Edited 1 time in total

taztastic wrote:

I wear glasses and often wonder what damage they would cause?

I think air bags should be removed from all vehicles as they are dangers .. loosing feet, eyes etc Do it now ! Your a long time dead !!

MartynB wrote:

I haven't had a passenger put her feet on the dash since I was at Leeds polytechnic 40 odd years ago

Those were the days in Leeds that I well remember , when men were men and sheep were worried.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Other half still does it but does not get any response these days! Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Must be a "woman" thing. My other half does this occasionally on long journeys but I always remind her what would happen should we have an accident, then she takes them down (ooh err) again................until the next long journey and the cycle begins again.

Prefer the feet touching the roof personally  21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200