---
title: Why does an airbag make a crash safer than hitting the steering wheel? — Seat belts, crashes and keeping safe · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does an airbag make a crash safer than hitting the steering wheel? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 37 «Seat belts, crashes and keeping safe» of the physics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Seat belts, crashes and keeping safe

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does an airbag make a crash safer than hitting the steering wheel?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** airbag · **What happens:** make, hit · **To what, where:** crash, steering wheel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 37 «Seat belts, crashes and keeping safe» of the physics course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/physics/37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe:t8:1
# text = Why does an airbag make a crash safer than hitting the steering wheel?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	airbag	airbag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	crash	crash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	safer	safe	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	xcomp	_	_
9	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	steering	steering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	wheel	wheel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · do-support | a airbag | a crash |  |  |  | safe *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset crash=Product |
| 2 | **hit** | gerund | a airbag *not said here* | the steering wheel |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme wheel=Co-Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It slows the head over a longer, softer stop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe:t8:o1:1
# text = It slows the head over a longer, softer stop
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	slows	slow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	over	over	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	longer	long	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	softer	soft	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	stop	stop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slow** | present | It | the head |  | a longer softer stop |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent head=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It pushes the other car away before you hit it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe:t8:o2:1
# text = It pushes the other car away before you hit it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	away	away	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
7	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hit	hit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | present | It | the other car |  |  |  | away *property* | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent car=Theme |
| 2 | **hit** | present | you | car |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Co-Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It bounces you straight back into your seat again

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe:t8:o3:1
# text = It bounces you straight back into your seat again
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	bounces	bounce	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	seat	seat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	again	again	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bounce** | present | It | you |  | your seat | again |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location you=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It makes the whole car stop instantly where it is

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:37-seat-belts-crashes-and-keeping-safe:t8:o4:1
# text = It makes the whole car stop instantly where it is
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	stop	stop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	xcomp	_	_
7	instantly	instantly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	10	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | It | the whole car |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stop** | present | the whole car *not said here* |  |  |  |  | instantly *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **be** | present | car |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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