During a crash test conducted for the federal government, the passenger air bag in a 2008 Infiniti EX35 failed to deploy, even though it was designed to deploy.  That test was conducted as part of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which is used to determine the “star” rating of a new vehicle.   Even though the vehicle was crashed into the barrier at 35 mph, the passenger air bag did not deploy to protect the passenger, but instead stayed hidden in its compartment.  Here is a photo of the passenger and dash area after the test:

2008 Infiniti EX35 post crash test photo with no airbag deployment

The footage of this air bag failure makes it clear that the passenger air bag does not deploy, and that the seat belt allowed the passenger’s head to apparently contact the dash.  According to the abstract of the crash test report, representatives of the manufacturer [Infiniti models are actually designed and/or made by Nissan] determined that there was a problem with the Airbag Control Unit in the vehicle which prevented deployment of the passenger air bag.  As a result of the failure of the air bag to deploy, the passenger’s Head Injury Criterion (HIC) was well above the threshold of 1,000.  Here is the abstract from the crash test report summarizing this information:

2008 Infiniti crash test report abstract

Our client was the driver of a Dodge Grand Caravan, one of the Chrysler minivans; other related minivans are the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager / Grand Voyager and Chrysler Town & Country.  Although he was involved in a severe frontal accident, his driver air bag failed to deploy and his seat belt unlatched during the accident, causing him to suffer fatal injuries.  The passenger air bag did deploy, even though there was no passenger.  This combination is one of the typical symptoms of a clockspring defect. 

Our investigation revealed that the clockspring, located under the driver air bag and steering wheel, was defective.  Although it was included as part of a safety recall, Chrysler never sent the recall  notice to our client.  In fact, Chrysler has previously sent out as many as ten recall notices, but in this case sent out only one.  This means that if the vehicle was ever sold, or the owner moved, after that sole recall notice went out, the notice may never have reached the current owner.

Chrysler admitted that this same defect may have existed in about a million-and-a-half Chrysler minivans (Dodge Caravan, Dodge Grand Caravan, Plymouth Voyager, Plymouth Grand Voyager, and Chrysler Town & Country) from the 1996 to the 1998 model years.  We also discovered that clockspring defects affected numerous other Chrysler models, including those from more recent model years.

Land Rover is recalling 37,142 model year 2005-2006 Land Rover LR3 and Land Rover Range Rover Sport vehicles. Relative motion between the steering wheel hub and/or the steering column cowl with the clockspring, which includes the driver side air bag circuitry, could result in fracturing of the air bag wiring connection.

If an air bag wire fractures, the SRS warning light will illuminate on the instrument cluster. The SRS warning light indicates to the driver that there is a concern with the SRS system in the vehicle and that immediate repair is necessary. If the SRS warning light is ignored and a vehicle crash of sufficient severity to command deployment of the driver’s air bag occurs, the air bag module may not deploy in the intended manner.

The condition may result in the deployment of only one stage of the dual stage driver’s air bag or the air bag may not deploy at all increasing the risk of serious injuries to the driver. The recall is expected to begin on or about July 21, 2008. 08V-248.

Hyundai is recalling 150,954 model year 2001 Hyundai Elantra vehicles. If a liquid is spilled in the area of the cupholder on the center console, it may seep through the console opening for the parking brake lever and then drip onto the air bag control module electrical connector. The spilled liquid may contaminate the air bag control module and its electrical connector to the air bag wiring harness and cause the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS or airbag) warning light to illuminate.

This condition may affect the driver and passenger frontal air bags or the driver and front passenger seat mounted side impact air bags and may prevent air bag deployment during a crash where such deployment should occur. Non-deployment of the SRS air bags may increase the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger under certain crash conditions. The recall is expected to begin during the fourth quarter of 2008, and will be sent out in six mailings. 08V-532.

Our client was driving a 1997 Dodge Intrepid in Florida when it was involved in an offset frontal collision.  Despite the head-on crash, the airbags failed to deploy.  This caused the driver to suffer multiple, severe blunt force trauma injuries.  These injuries, resulting from the air bag not deploying, included traumatic brain injury (TBI), chest injuries and internal injuries.  Tragically, these injuries resulted in a wrongful death.

Dodge Airbag Failed to Deploy

Our investigation revealed that the front airbag crash sensors used by Chrysler in this 1997 Dodge Intrepid were enclosed inside a plastic shell, instead of a steel casing.  This caused the crash sensor to be severely damaged early during the crash, before it could send the deployment signal to the airbag.  Also, the vehicle’s structure was designed in such a way that that many crashes outside the vehicle’s frame rails (such as when two cars collide head-on but don’t perfectly overlap) would not trigger those sensors.

The driver of a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck was involved in a single-vehicle accident.  The front of the Dodge pickup struck a large tree, causing significant damage to the vehicle. 

Dodge Pickup Airbag Failure

However, the driver airbag failed to deploy.  As a result of the airbag non-deployment, the driver suffered fatal blunt chest trauma injuries.

Our investigation also revealed that Chrysler had received hundreds and hundreds of complaints from other consumers indicating that the airbags had failed to deploy in their pickup trucks too.  This case focused on the lack of an air bag sensor at the front of the pickup, even though previous models of the pickup had used such a front sensor.  Our research also revealed that the Dodge pickup truck’s existing sensor was not calibrated properly for the vehicle’s structure, allowing it to be “fooled” especially in crashes involving trees and utility poles.

The driver of another vehicle in an oncoming lane veered into our client’s lane, causing a head-on frontal crash. Although the crash was severe, the driver airbag did not deploy, and the driver suffered lung, heart and other chest injuries that proved fatal.

2000 Ford Taurus Airbag Failed to Deploy

 A download of the vehicle’s Restraint Control Module (the “black box”) documented the failure of the front crash sensor during the crash. My inspection of that crash sensor revealed that its wiring had been cut.  This had occurred early in the crash, right near where the crash sensor was mounted.

Airbag Sensor Cut Wire

Evidence gathered during our investigation indicated that the air bag system was programmed in a way that “shut off” the airbag if the sensor wire were cut during an accident.  In my opinion, this should never have happened.  First of all, a front airbag crash sensor should be mounted in a way that protects its wiring from being cut during a crash, since it is certainly foreseeable that the front crush zone of a car will be damaged during a frontal crash.  Second, even if the wiring gets cuts, there is no reason to shut off the entire airbag system.  Instead, the airbag control module that contains an accelerometer should still continue to function; if the airbag safety sensor within the control module detects the crash, it can still deploy the airbags.  Why deprive the consumer of the safety benefit of the airbags?

Although this was apparently fixed in later models, this particular vehicle had not been recalled to correct this problem.  There is absolutely no excuse for such a decision.  If you have a known problem, just fix it.  Why wait until more people suffer serious personal injuries or death before correcting this safety defect?

One of the most common phone calls we receive is from consumers wondering why their air bag did not deploy during a crash.  This article describes how air bag deployment thresholds are established, the kinds of crashes during which air bags should deploy, and crashes where they may not deploy.  It also provides information on several different defects that may be responsible for the air bag failing to deploy when it should deploy.

AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT THRESHOLDS

Conventional air bags are generally designed to deploy in certain frontal crashes above the thresholds selected by the manufacturer.  Unfortunately, the consumer often cannot determine the thresholds for their car, as they vary widely between manufacturers, and even vary among different models from the same manufacturer.  However, there are some general guidelines that are helpful for consumers.

Although there were some variations, most frontal air bags from the 1990s were designed to deploy in crashes above a threshold level of 14 mph into a solid concrete barrier.  At the same time, most air bag systems were also designed to never deploy in crashes below 8 mph into a solid concrete barrier.  Between these two speeds, the air bags may or may not deploy, depending on the specifics of the accident and vehicle.

Airbag Deployment Threshold

The bottom line is this: airbag should always deploy in every crash where they are likely to prevent serious personal injury or a wrongful death.  If your crash severity exceeds the car company’s thresholds, and yet your air bags did not deploy, you may well have a defect in your vehicle’s air bag system.

CRASHES WHERE THE AIR BAG SHOULD DEPLOY

Your air bags should deploy in every crash where they will help prevent your injuries.  This means that your air bag should deploy in those crashes where you would otherwise suffer injuries of the type that the air bag is designed to prevent: head, neck, and chest injuries.  For example, your frontal air bag should deploy in an accident where your head would otherwise be injured from hitting your steering wheel.  Shown here is an example of an accident vehicle in which the air bags should have deployed.

Ford Airbag Failed to Deploy

Although frontal air bags are generally not designed to deploy in side impacts or rollovers, in some cases they should deploy in those kinds of crashes.  That is because some side impacts or rollovers also cause front-to-back deceleration that causes you to move forward inside your vehicle.  One example would be if you were driving at highway speed and were hit on the side of your car: in addition to crushing in the side of the car, your car would also slow down its forward motion rapidly, which could be enough to deploy your frontal air bags.  Similarly, frontal air bags should generally not deploy in rear impacts; however, if you are hit from behind and pushed into a car in front of you, that second impact to your car’s front end may justify deployment of your air bags.

For side impact air bags, they should generally deploy on the side of the car experiencing the side impact.  Similarly, rollover “curtain” air bags should deploy when the vehicle experiences a rollover, to help prevent head and neck injuries and to reduce the risk of being ejected through an open or shattered window.
     
Examples of crashes where air bag deployment would be expected include moderate to severe crashes involving your front bumper or the front corners of your vehicle, frontal impacts to a utility or telephone pole, and under-ride impacts where the front of your car goes under the side or back of a truck.

CRASHES WHERE THE AIR BAG SHOULD NOT DEPLOY

Your air bags should not deploy in those accidents where they will not prevent your injuries.  After all, air bags can deploy at speeds of more than 200 mph, and you should not be exposed to those kinds of forces if it won’t help you.  Thus, your frontal air bags should not deploy in side impacts, rear impacts and rollovers where there is no significant deceleration from front to back.  Other examples of crashes where your frontal air bags should not generally deploy include:

• Minor frontal crashes
• Most impacts to the undercarriage of the vehicle, such as when crossing a railroad, unless they would result in serious personal injury
• Impacts with animals such as deer or dogs
• Impacts with street curbs or parking blocks
• Driving on rough roads, including those with large potholes, gravel or bumps

Of course, your air bags should never deploy when your vehicle is not in an accident.  Although this seems obvious, there are actually many cases where this has occurred, often due to poor design of the air bag system software, or due to electrical issues with the air bag system.

WHY YOUR AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY

There are several reasons why your air bag may not have deployed during a crash.  The first reason is that perhaps your crash is not the type of accident where air bag deployment would be helpful.  For frontal air bags, this includes many, but not all, side impacts, rear impacts and rollovers.  This category also includes minor accidents in which the driver and front passenger (if there was one) did not suffer any significant injuries requiring medical treatment.

The second reason is that there could be a defect that prevented the crash sensors from detecting the crash properly.  Our investigation and analysis of air bag systems in hundreds and hundreds of crashes has revealed numerous causes that fall within this category.  In some cases, the air bag deployment threshold is simply not set appropriately, often due to inadequate testing.  In other cases, a flaw in the software of the air bag control module has caused it to ignore the data from one of the crash sensors.  In still other cases, there are simply too few sensors to properly detect real-world crashes; this often results from overly zealous cost-reduction efforts by car companies that are trying to improve their finances.  In a few cases, quality control efforts have failed to prevent defective sensors or air bag control modules from reaching the public.

2002 Buick Century: Fatal Non-Deployment

The third reason is that there could be a defect that prevented the deployment signal from reaching the air bag modules and deploying them.  Here, the problem usually lies with the electrical components and wiring between the crash sensors, control module and the air bag modules.  The most frequent defect in this category that we see is when the driver air bag fails to deploy, but the passenger air bag does deploy.  In many cases, this is due to a defective clockspring located in the steering column.  Millions of defective clocksprings have been recalled, generally due to poor quality control at either the supplier’s production plant or the car company’s assembly plant.

Airbag Clockspring

Ford Airbag Sensor Cut Wire

The fourth reason is that there could be a defect that prevented the actual air bag modules from deploying correctly.  In a few cases, the crash sensors and air bag control modules have commanded deployment of the air bags, but the air bags failed to respond.  This is almost always due to defects within the air bag modules themselves, usually due to poor quality control.

Although each vehicle and each accident is different, I can help you determine whether the air bags in your car should have deployed in your accident.  As an air bag attorney, as a former air bag engineer for General Motors, and as a court-recognized air bag expert witness, I have over 20 years of experience in analyzing air bag system performance.  If your air bag system is defective and you have a case, I would be honored to pursue justice for you.

BMW has recalled 200,000 of its vehicles for a potentially deadly airbag defect.  It affects certain 2006 BMW 3 series cars (BMW 325i, BMW 325ci, and BMW 330ci), 2004 – 2006 BMW 5 series cars (BMW 525 i, BMW 530i, BMW 545i, and BMW 550i) and 2004-2006 BMW X3 vehicles, depending on the type of seat.

The affected front passenger seats use an occupant detection mat from Siemens as part of an advanced air bag system.  The airbag system uses the data from the mat to determine whether to deploy the front passenger airbags.  Unfortunately, those mats installed in the front passenger seats are vulnerable to cracking along the side of the seat as a result of frequent use.  Some of those cracks could cause a change to the electrical characteristics of the mat.  That electrical change can lead the air bag system to recognize a failure, which can then shut down the passenger air bag system.  If that happens, the passenger air bag can fail to deploy during a crash when it is needed.  According to BMW, this should not affect the head protection system.

The government opened its defect investigation in September 2007.  They upgraded it to an engineering analysis in January 2008, noting that BMW had provided 3,465 owner reports and 28,238 warranty claims.  BMW notified the government that it would conduct this recall in July of 2008.  The government’s recall number is 08V-384.

In one of our cases, our client’s 2002 Buick Century struck another vehicle.  Despite the significant damage to the Buick Century’s front end, the airbags failed to deploy, causing devastating head and spinal cord injuries that resulted in the driver’s wrongful death.  We then initiated an investigation to determine why the airbag did not deploy, and found several explanations.

First, the airbag system failed to include a front end crush-zone sensor, even though earlier models had used such a sensor.  General Motors had apparently considered the use of such an airbag sensor, judging by the screw holes for the sensor that were in the radiator tie bar and the indentation in the plastic cover panel that was made to accommodate the sensor.  However, the front safety sensor was not included within the cars sold to the public by Buick.

Second, this Buick Century was part of GM’s “W” car platform.  Other cars on that same platform included the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo.  Interestingly, the Chevrolet versions of GM’s “W” cars used an electronic front airbag sensor, even though the Buick version did not.  We never received a satisfactory explanation from General Motors as to why the Buick lacked the front air bag sensor, even though the Chevrolet versions used them.

Incidentally, the air bag ”black box” (which GM calls the SDM, short for Sensing and Diagnostic Module) was helpful to proving our case.  It demonstrated that the driver was indeed wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident.  It also showed that the crash severity was in the range where airbag deployment would have been expected.