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Airbags Didn't Deploy-Toyota dealer says driver didn't crash properly!

8K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  Aussie50 
#1 ·
Airbags Didn't Deploy Since Driver Didn't Collide Properly, Says Toyota India Dealer - News

Among all the car buyers in India, few go for a car with airbags as an option because of the high-cost associated with it. However, what if you did buy a car with airbags which didn't work during a collision?




Mr. Anil Nair found out recently when he met with an accident at the Ernakulam-Alleppey highway in Kerala. His Toyota Etios was involved in frontal collision on the highway, and yet the airbags failed to deploy. While he faced some serious injuries, the co-passenger was hospitalised for 2 weeks.


When Mr. Nair contacted his Toyota dealer and informed them about the case, the dealer replied "It's because you did not collide properly." Out of frustration Mr. Nair then asked, "Then how must I collide for the airbags to function properly? How can I trust this vehicle again? I hope they will train people to bang their cars right in order to ensure that the airbags are deployed."
 
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#5 ·
And you survived? Amazing!
I've lived in many African countries and survived but I wouldn't live in India for a day.
 
#7 · (Edited)
This is the typical lost in translation moment.

The dealer was right, but didn't articulate it well. If the severity of the collision is low, you don't want airbags to explode as they total the car and can potentially injure or kill the driver/passengers (even if they are not defective).

The picture shows that the impact was absorbed mostly by the hood and thus the hood was damaged a lot. Notice that bumper was not involved/damaged much. This is typical when small car collides with a large SUV or truck.

The reason the driver/passenger were injured, they likely didn't wear seat belts.

My daughter has a similar corolla damage a year ago when she T-bonned a pickup truck (minimal damage to the truck). Airbags didn't deploy either and car was totaled, but she was fine due to seat belt use.

Once I was in a similar accident when I was a teenager (no air bags way back then). I had seat belt on and no injuries. My passenger didn't have seatbelts and she spent 2 months in a hospital.
 
#11 ·
This is the typical lost in translation moment.

The dealer was right, but didn't articulate it well. If the severity of the collision is low, you don't want airbags to explode as they total the car and can potentially injure or kill the driver/passengers (even if they are not defective).

The picture shows that the impact was absorbed mostly by the hood and thus the hood was damaged a lot. Notice that bumper was not involved/damaged much. This is typical when small car collides with a large SUV or truck.

The reason the driver/passenger were injured, they likely didn't wear seat belts.

My daugter has a similar corolla damage a year ago when she T-bonned a pickup truck (minimal damage to the truck). Airbags didn't deploy either and car was totaled, but she was fine due to seat belt use.

Once I was in a similar accident when I was a teenager (no air bags way back then). I had seat belt on and injuries. My passanger didn't have seatbelts and she spent 2 months in a hospital.
I can see a nasty round fracture on the passenger side of the windscreen (head Vs glass kind) I doubt the driver was wearing a belt either.

It is some nasty looking damage, but as others have said, the G-forces needed to trigger the airbag module were probably not quite high enough due to both the car and SUV that it hit, absorbing energy gradually.

hit a solid concrete wall at the same speed and I would bet those airbags go pop!.
 
#9 ·
The crash reportedly resulted in injury. While the crash occurred in India, this is from the U.S. NHTSA info site about air bags:

"Any air bag that fails to deploy in an injury-producing crash should be reported to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation for investigation of possible system defects and potential recall."
 
#13 ·
There are more photos at the link. The driver says he and his passenger were both wearing seat belts, but the Toyota dealer says they weren't.
 
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