If European cars have this fitted and North American ones don’t then my guess would be Euro NCAP has a specification for bonnet-to-block spacing which is in some way different to the American equivalent and a new car can’t get a 5-star rating if it doesn’t meet the spec.
There are different equivalent bodies to Euro NCAP all over the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Car_Assessment_Program#Organizations
It’s a pretty deep hole!
I’m glad I wasn’t at that focus group meeting. “Right, we want you to design a safety system that will judge if the person the car hits is worthy of deploying the safety measures or not. We will call it the Judge Dread - God Bonnet!” Of course it will also decide if the pedestrian is not at fault in which case it will lock all the doors, deploy the air bags to stun the driver while simultaneously sending a message to call out a local metal recycler and spontaneously combusting. Think of all the insurance claims it would save.
Manual page 3-23
Closing the boot lid
Use both hands to push the boot lid down until the lock snaps shut. Do not slam it. Pull up on the boot lid to make sure it is secure.
Manual page 6-15
Closing the Bonnet
…
Thanks for the info. It’s in the full manual which I downloaded from the Mazda website, but it’s not in the shorter version which came with my car.
Isn’t it a bit worrying though, that the manual has to warn people not to put their weight on the bonnet when closing it, otherwise it could become deformed ?
Pardon me, but shouldn’t cars be built stronger than that ?
I think it’s part of the “lightweight” design philosophy behind the car, everything is “just” enough to do it’s job. If you’re not heavy-handed it’s not a problem and it’s probably the trade-off to make the car, smaller, lighter and more nimble that it’s predecessor. That was a big part of Mazda’s promo for the ND wasn’t it.
With most cars, yes.
With a ligthweight sports car that has an aluminum bonnet you cannot expect to treat them like a typical repmobile and be OK.
Good Grief! There are some pretty perfect people who have never ever made a mistake on here!!!
Although I can’t claim to have been there personally, I think my history is good enough to know that people existed before cars! I have never in my life seen a person thrown 10 feet in the air after an impact with another person, I have seen that happen after an impact with a car. It is very sobering and frightening when it happens just feet from you. The additional component in this is “the car.”
Very fortunately the pedestrian in this instance survived. They were young and bounced well. The second collision I witnessed, the person was not so fortunate and died there at the scene. I can remember it very well and I can assure you that the driver of the car would have given absolutely anything, anything for that person not to be laying dead in front of their car.
And Gerry, two main reasons why the US spec cars don’t have this. (This as in meeting pedestrian impact protection legislation) Firstly style is seen as far more important. The vast majority of American architecture was built with the car in mind. Since Americans rarely walk anywhere near a road, if at all, in fact if you have been anywhere near the place in the last 20 years you would know that you can’t even get between adjacent strip malls without using the car, it is about being in the car. Secondly it’s cheap, like much of America, it is not mandated and so it does not get fitted.
Well said. Unlike road users in tin boxes, pedestrians (and cyclists for that matter) don’t need any extra motivation to avoid being hit by vehicles. As a rule they are trying very hard not to be, because they invariably come off worst. That’s before allowing for children and other vulnerable folk.
I’m sure Mazda (and other manufacturers) try to minimise false positives activations.
Perhaps they could do more to minimise the cost of repairs, but I won’t be disabling my “deployable” bonnet.
Well said both. Yes, pedestrians and cyclist (and I am a cyclist) can be stupid or plain distracted but and it is a big but, if they are in an accident with a car they do not deserve to die. Anything that can be done to protect them should be done, including active bonnet safety systems. As stated the bonnet on the ND is made from easily deformable aluminium which is close to the very unyielding engine lump, so using an energy absorbing bonnet which has been ejected clear of the engine will greatly increase the chances of survival for anybody being hit by the car. My experience as a cyclist, is that car drivers can be just as idiotic if not downright aggressive towards cyclist and pedestrians, who are hugely more vulnerable. Everything we can do to protect pedestrians and cyclist should be done. The real case here is that Mazda should have designed the system such that if it does go off when it is not really required to do so to protect a pedestrian, either accidentally or by an inanimate object (wheel trim for example) then it should require no more than replacement of the explosive charges to repair.
Unfortunately it does not work like that. The explosive speeds that these passive safety systems have to operate negates things being done “nicely.” They are all the same. Picking up on the theme of this, if an ever so perfect driver, obviously through no fault of their own, and certainly not by not taking responsibility, nudges a lamp post at a little bit of speed, the air bags will deploy. That will write the car off economically. If the air bags deploy that will break the windscreen, the seat belt pre-tensioners will have activated and certainly in the case of Renault and probably many others now the seat belt mountings are designed to rip thus limiting the stress on the body. And then on top of all that modern cars are very, very much designed to crumple in even minor impacts to absorb energy.
For a bonnet to pop up in in the milliseconds it takes to do so, things are going to bend. If they didn’t it would be likely that the bonnet would be to stiff and defeat the actual objective.
That is the nature of passive safety systems. Hopefully the active safety systems such as City Brake that is available on some cars, which should put the brakes on when the driver is too busy on Facebook, will prevent some of these impact occurring.
I’m all for safety devices both “passive” and “active” because they have quite literally saved my life in an accident! However I only want the “active” ones to work when they’re supposed to, not because they’re faulty or have a design flaw or they themselves could be a danger. Remember a while ago the faults with airbags? A neighbour of mine experienced one of those; he got out of his car a slammed the door and the driver’s airbag activated, no damage done and replaced by the manufacturer. But had it activated while he was commuting on the busy M25! The mind boggles. Likewise if the OP’s “active bonnet” incident had happened at speed, in traffic…it could have been disastrous, not just inconvenient and expensive. Just saying.
You are absolutely correct NickD (especially in your second paragraph). If the front bonnet catch were to release at the same time as the explosive bonnet pop up system then that could be even worse for the pedestrian. Also I cannot imagine the hinges at the rear releasing without the bonnet being damaged, so yes the bonnet will be necessarily damaged even when accidentally triggered. I think that some comments I have seen suggesting that relatively new second hand cars, without a transferable manufacturers warranty, will be practically worthless due the huge cost of repair for some of the increasingly complex systems required to meet safety and emission standards, look increasingly valid.
I would love to see a slow speed video of the bonnet pop up system being activated!
MK2 manual says the same. Concentrated pressure on a small point from a finger can add a small dink in the material, hence you should always drop an aluminium MX5 bonnet and not push it to close it to avoid that risk of deformation.
Go to YouTube and search for crash test Wildhaus 2014 to see a demo.
T’would seem that some Mercedes owners are experiencing similar situations with their “active bonnets” too, also “shock/horror” rectification costs.
Double post .
I would should think Mazda will cover this - but expect them to investigate first - make sure they see it before the repair.
The OP should have used the ‘Call Mazda First’ number rather than the roadside assistance and they would have handled the repair using a Mazda approved bodyshop who always have a dealer to liaise with.
https://www.mazda.co.uk/accidentaftercare
http://www.insidemazda.co.uk/2016/10/11/call-mazda-first/
I’ve NEVER let the bonnet (or the boot lid) drop, I always lower it carefully, then close it with pressure from my palm, directly over the latch point in both cases.
Clive once opened my bonnet at the show we did at Ally Pally, and closed it (apparently) the way you suggest. Bonnet was rattling and rippling as I went round the M25, and had to pull onto the hard shoulder to close it properly. (imminent danger of the catch letting go - - - - -)
I’ve rubbed fairly hard with my finger and a cloth to remove hard bird poo and tree droppings - have I got creases or dents in the bonnet? - NO. You eating spinach these days - or turning into the hulk? My mind boggles.