drive a 2009 Cadillac CTS….. The airbags did not go off and I think they should have- now

the airbag light is flashing – what does that mean- just please help me out- I have no clue

what to do- or what I need to fight for on getting this car fix – so it will be safe for my family –

my 2 yr old was in the car also

Thanks for your inquiry about a potential defect in your 2002 Cadillac Escalade airbag system. There is no question that your airbags should never deploy when you simply turn on the ignition. The deployment is almost certainly an electrical problem; it could be due to wiring issues or it could be due to the electronic control module / crash sensor for the air bag system, which GM calls a Sensing and Diagnostic Module (SDM). Unnecessary and inadvertent air bag deployments often occur when you start your vehicle, because the SDM generates an electrical current then that tries to diagnose your airbag system to make sure it is working properly. In some cases, that diagnostic current may be enough to deploy the airbag if there is an electrical fault.

I would not be at all surprised if GM had received other such complaints, which they often document through “1241 forms”. However, those are internal GM documents and you probably won’t get them from GM without a lawsuit. And, if this happened prior to GM declaring bankruptcy (June 1, 2009), you may not have any claim remaining against them due to the bankruptcy laws.

Although I was unable to locate any complaints filed with the appropriate government agency (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA), I strongly recommend you file a complaint with them. You can do so over the phone or by mail, but I generally recommend you submit your complaint over the internet since it’s easy and allows you to use your own words in the complaint, rather than someone’s restatement of your words. You can go to the NHTSA website and file your complaint by clicking here. If enough people complain, NHTSA can open up a safety defect investigation; if it’s a serious or persistent problem, they may be able to force GM to recall their Cadillac Escalades to fix the problem before someone is seriously hurt.

Whether the deployment threshold was crossed and whether the air bags should have deployed in a particular accident will depend on the speed of the vehicle, the angle of impact, the geometry (size and shape) of the object being hit, the stiffness of your car (which depends on where your car was hit), the stiffness of the other object, and other factors.

A preliminary assessment of whether an air bag should have deployed in your case can be conducted by reviewing photographs of the accident damage and the police report.

I am always happy to review the information in cases such as yours, in light of my 20 years of experience with air bags. You are welcome to send it by email, fax or mail, whichever is more convenient for you. Remember, there is never a charge for my preliminary assessment of your potential case.

It is also possible that the frontal air bags should have deployed, but it depends on how much of a frontal deceleration your vehicle encountered, versus lateral (side-to-side) deceleration. For example, if your vehicle was no longer sliding forward and was hit at a pure 90 degree angle by the RV, then the frontal air bags probably should not have deployed. But, if you were still sliding forward at a high rate of speed, and you were hit on the side at an angle of 30 degrees, then maybe they should have deployed. The damage pattern to your vehicle can help decipher this. Also, you may want to read the following article posted elsewhere on this blog: http://www.theairbagblog.com/how-airbags-work/my-airbag-did-not-deploy-what-went-wrong/

We will also contact you privately to discuss this in more detail, and provide you more information.