i was in a car accident with my brother and the air bags didnt work?

Question

it was raining and my brother was driving at 30 mph and a car from the lane next to us suddenly came onto my brother's lane and made my brother hit him in the back. our car hit the back of it pretty hard the front of my car got all messed up the hood went up, tire broke, and engine got messed up but the bags didnt work. my brother's car is a 1998 or 1999 camry

we were both wearing our seat belts. at the moment me and my brother didnt feel any pain but a day later we both had back pain, neck, waist, and shoulder pain.

we were both wearing our seat belts. at the moment me and my brother didnt feel any pain but a day later we both had back pain, neck, waist, and shoulder pain. we are both going to therapy

Answer 1

Airbags are typically designed to deploy in frontal and near-frontal collisions, which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately 13-23 km/h (8-14 mph). Roughly speaking, a 23 km/h (14 mph) barrier collision is equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size across the full front of each vehicle at about 45 km/h (28 mph). This is because the parked car absorbs some of the energy of the crash, and is pushed by the striking vehicle. Unlike crash tests into barriers, real-world crashes typically occur at angles, and the crash forces usually are not evenly distributed across the front of the vehicle. Consequently, the relative speed between a striking and struck vehicle required to deploy the air bag in a real-world crash can be much higher than an equivalent barrier crash.

Because airbag sensors measure deceleration, vehicle speed and damage are not good indicators of whether an air bag should have deployed. Occasionally, air bags can deploy due to the vehicle's undercarriage violently striking a low object protruding above the roadway surface. Despite the lack of visible front-end damage, high deceleration forces may occur in this type of crash, resulting in the deployment of the air bag.

u can get a law order if u sustain major injuries due to the airbag. not working.

Answer 2

How severe was the impact? Did you hit the dash or did your brother hit the steering wheel?

More modern sensors will not always deploy the air bags if the software feels it is not necessary. Based on your description it sounds like at least the driver's side should have deployed (but not necessarily).

Did he brake? If he was going 30mph then hit the brakes in a panic the car could have actually slowed considerably causing the bags not to go off.

These things can break noses and ribs so they are designed not to go off at evely little impact.

I would at least check with a tech/insurance company to see if the car still had airbags installed. There is a big market for stolen airbags and a lot of times if the car has been wrecked before someone may have scrimped on reinstalling the expensive air bags.

Answer 3

Interesting how everyone suggests you sue somebody as a first response. However, you do not mention if you were injured, or if so, to what extent. (A basic determination of whether the air bags would have been critical to the impact to begin with.)

Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Many advanced air bag systems utilize various sensors to obtain information about crashes, vehicles and their occupants. This information is used to adapt the performance of the air bag to the particular circumstances of the crash. It is used in determining whether an air bag should deploy and, if it should, and if the air bag has multiple inflation levels, at what level.

in other words, later air bags were designed to deploy to protect the occupants based upon the level of actual impact (as opposed to deploying in a 5 mph fender-bender). So, an impact in the rain at 30 mph might have caused the other car to "give" by sliding away and lessening the strength of the impact vs. an impact with a solid, non-movable object.

Then again, is it possible that the air bags haven't worked for a long time, but the warning light that tells the driver they weren't charged burned out long ago (or was ignored).

Still, I'm sure that there is a lawyer somewhere willing to file a suit on your behalf about the fact no one was hurt but the bags didn't deploy, based upon what MIGHT have happened.

Answer 4

Whether the bags deploy or not depends upon the violence of the accident. An straight on impact of 10 to 15 MPH into a fixed object will usually deploy the bags. Hitting another car with that much speed differential may not deploy the bags as they may not actually be needed. This is because the combined crush zones of the two vehicles absorb enough of the impact that the seatbelts alone are sufficient for occupant protection.

Unless you can prove that you suffered more severe injuries due to the bags not deploying than you would have had they deployed it's not likely that a lawsuit will get you anywhere. And if you didn't have your seatbelts properly buckled you won't get a dime as your negligence in not wearing them would have been more contributary to your injuries than the bags not deploying.

Do keep in mind that if you do sue, it will probably be 5 or more years before it ever goes to trial. If your injuries are minimal, don't waste your time with a lawsuit.

Answer 5

There are a number of reasons the airbags might have not deployed:
o The deceleration was not sufficient
o There was not "significant" damage near the sensor unit.

Below certain speed and deceleration, the force of the airbag would pose a greater risk than that of the collision. "Airbag triggering algorithms are becoming much more complex. They try to reduce useless deployments [Wikipedia]"

That said, it is possible the airbag was defective or that the wiring was damaged in the collision. In any event, after a serious accident, the airbags, sensors and related wiring should be checked and replaced if necessary. Since they contain explosive components, and since this component is vital to safety, proper maintenance must be performed by a qualified mechanic.

Answer 6

There's a good chance that you didn't hit hard enough to actuate the air bags. Maybe the impact was a little more to the side, or perhaps the "g"s weren't strong enough since both cars were on a slick surface...maybe.

If you were uninjured in the accident, be grateful that the airbags didn't go off. While they are life savers, getting saved by one can cause injuries, too.

Answer 7

nicely, i comprehend that, somewhat on the evade caravans, the impact sensors strengthen corrosion interior the electric powered connector which might reason the air bags to not set up. Did you have an airbag gentle illuminated on th sprint, in many cases a malfunction may well be indicated via this gentle.

Answer 8

Airbags will only deploy if the force of the collision is potentially life-threatening. After all, you don't want them popping when you run over a dead dog on the freeway.

If you were not badly hurt then the impact speed was probably too low to trigger them. The "crumple zone" probably saved you and kept the deceleration below the trigger threshold of the airbags.

Answer 9

it is the way your car hit the other car. my daughter had two accidents-one totaled the car-hit a tree head-on- the next time she was cut off by another car that made an illegal left turn in front of her- neither time did the air bags go off. she was not injured either time so i guess she was lucky. the cars were an 02 and 04 hyundais

Answer 10

The bags can be disabled on some makes for child safety reasons. It is possible to check the ECM and see if there is data logged from the incident.. Call the dealer and ask them!