side airbag blocking entrance

I drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently, and notice right away that the
design of the front passenger door makes it difficult for a person to
enter the vehicle. I almost knocked my head as I entered the vehicle,
and I am a short person. I wonder if it is even worse for tall
persons. Yesterday I drove a Nissan Murano, and I had the same problem.
Perhaps it is a matter of getting used to, i.e. duck when you want to
enter the vehicle.
I wonder if this is common on new vehicles equipped with side airbag.
The ones that I tried were all SUV. What about new regular cars? Does
similar problem occur for Toyota, Honda, or European SUVs? What about
the luxury SUVs, such as new Lexus RX, MB SUVs, BMW X3/5, Cayenne,
Infiniti FX and Acura's RDX/MDX? Similar problems?

<aniramca@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1163253242.111555.138100@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently, and notice right away that the
> design of the front passenger door makes it difficult for a person to
> enter the vehicle. I almost knocked my head as I entered the vehicle,
> and I am a short person. I wonder if it is even worse for tall
> persons. Yesterday I drove a Nissan Murano, and I had the same problem.
> Perhaps it is a matter of getting used to, i.e. duck when you want to
> enter the vehicle.[/color]


Nothing to do with the airbags. Everything to do with crappy design. I've
banged my head a few times getting in a Cherokee long before side airbags.
I'm sure you can get used to it, but a higher roofline would cure the
problem at the cost of style.

I have side airbags on my Hyundai and it is very easy to get in and out of.
Can't speak about hte other cars as I have no interest in them and prefer to
drive a standard car.

In our 05 Avalon (& also the 02 befoe it) the side airbags are on the sides
of the front seats and aren't a problem. There might be in these new
"curtain" airbags but I've not seen them in any vehicle yet.
Ron
<aniramca@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1163253242.111555.138100@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently, and notice right away that the
> design of the front passenger door makes it difficult for a person to
> enter the vehicle. I almost knocked my head as I entered the vehicle,
> and I am a short person. I wonder if it is even worse for tall
> persons. Yesterday I drove a Nissan Murano, and I had the same problem.
> Perhaps it is a matter of getting used to, i.e. duck when you want to
> enter the vehicle.
> I wonder if this is common on new vehicles equipped with side airbag.
> The ones that I tried were all SUV. What about new regular cars? Does
> similar problem occur for Toyota, Honda, or European SUVs? What about
> the luxury SUVs, such as new Lexus RX, MB SUVs, BMW X3/5, Cayenne,
> Infiniti FX and Acura's RDX/MDX? Similar problems?
>[/color]

I just want to point out that the word "side airbag" that I referred to
previously may not be 100% correct. I believe it was more properly
called as the side curtain bag type, i.e. the one that they install
along the side rim of the car's roof.

Ron wrote:[color=blue]
> In our 05 Avalon (& also the 02 befoe it) the side airbags are on the sides
> of the front seats and aren't a problem. There might be in these new
> "curtain" airbags but I've not seen them in any vehicle yet.
> Ron
> <aniramca@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1163253242.111555.138100@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
> >I drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently, and notice right away that the
> > design of the front passenger door makes it difficult for a person to
> > enter the vehicle. I almost knocked my head as I entered the vehicle,
> > and I am a short person. I wonder if it is even worse for tall
> > persons. Yesterday I drove a Nissan Murano, and I had the same problem.
> > Perhaps it is a matter of getting used to, i.e. duck when you want to
> > enter the vehicle.
> > I wonder if this is common on new vehicles equipped with side airbag.
> > The ones that I tried were all SUV. What about new regular cars? Does
> > similar problem occur for Toyota, Honda, or European SUVs? What about
> > the luxury SUVs, such as new Lexus RX, MB SUVs, BMW X3/5, Cayenne,
> > Infiniti FX and Acura's RDX/MDX? Similar problems?
> >[/color][/color]

It may have more to do with the way you're entering the vehicle. I have 2
Nissan SUV (06 Murano & 00 Xterra) and a Toy van (92 Previa). I'm about
5'11'' and haven't banged my head on any of them. Once inside, there's
adequate head clearance and I'm sitting comfortably upright.

<aniramca@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1163253242.111555.138100@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently, and notice right away that the
> design of the front passenger door makes it difficult for a person to
> enter the vehicle. I almost knocked my head as I entered the vehicle,
> and I am a short person. I wonder if it is even worse for tall
> persons. Yesterday I drove a Nissan Murano, and I had the same problem.
> Perhaps it is a matter of getting used to, i.e. duck when you want to
> enter the vehicle.
> I wonder if this is common on new vehicles equipped with side airbag.
> The ones that I tried were all SUV. What about new regular cars? Does
> similar problem occur for Toyota, Honda, or European SUVs? What about
> the luxury SUVs, such as new Lexus RX, MB SUVs, BMW X3/5, Cayenne,
> Infiniti FX and Acura's RDX/MDX? Similar problems?
>[/color]