Curious Kids Every Day: A Daily Educational Podcast
Sep 25, 2026 · 12 min · 7 segments
How does a car know when to deploy an airbag? Today we learn how crash sensors detect serious impacts and how an inflator fills a hidden airbag with gas in a fraction of a second! **Curious Kids…
Josh TaylorHost
It can be hiding in different places all around the inside of the car, and if your car has a serious impact, like hitting another car or a solid object like a wall or something, some of those hidden bags can pop out.
[upbeat music] And do you know what the point of those airbags is? Well, they're kind of like cushions that soften the blow if your body is suddenly thrown forward or sideways.
So instead of the person driving the car hitting the steering wheel, an airbag can inflate between the driver and the steering wheel.
[airbag exploding] Yep, there is most likely an airbag folded up inside the steering wheel of your car right now.
They didn't know about them at all, and that got me wondering, how on earth do airbags work? I realized that I didn't know.
[laughs] I was thinking about this today because I got a question from a curious kid named Claus.
It can be hiding in different places all around the inside of the car, and if your car has a serious impact, like hitting another car or a solid object like a wall or something, some of those hidden bags can pop out.
[upbeat music] And do you know what the point of those airbags is? Well, they're kind of like cushions that soften the blow if your body is suddenly thrown forward or sideways.
So instead of the person driving the car hitting the steering wheel, an airbag can inflate between the driver and the steering wheel.
[airbag exploding] Yep, there is most likely an airbag folded up inside the steering wheel of your car right now.
They didn't know about them at all, and that got me wondering, how on earth do airbags work? I realized that I didn't know.
[laughs] I was thinking about this today because I got a question from a curious kid named Claus.
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