A Baffling Airbag Case

For the past five months, ConsumerAffairs.com has investigated complaints about airbags failing to deploy in serious accidents.

Many consumers we interviewed suffered debilitating injuries in these accidents. And they blame those injuries on their airbags' failure to deploy.

We examined more than 160 complaints about this problem and discovered:

• The consumers who suffered the most serious injuries and even deaths drove used cars -- ones that might be rebuilt wrecks;

• The airbags in newer vehicles rarely fail to deploy when they're supposed to protect consumers. Advance technology, experts say, has made airbags smarter and safer;

• Consumers often have misconceptions about airbags, including when they should deploy. Air bags, for example, are not designed to deploy in every accident. Certain criteria must be met. They're also not designed to replace seat belts. Seat belts are the primary restraint system in a vehicle and car and safety experts say motorist should always wear them;

• Only a crash scene investigator -- someone who has examined the vehicle, the accident site, and all the data -- can determine if an airbag failed to deploy when it should have gone off.

But we discovered one case where even a crash scene investigator couldn't determine why the airbags didn't deploy in a consumer's accident.

Andrea P. of Helotes, Texas, was in a head-on collision in her 1995 Chevy Z710 extended-cab pickup. She suffered a head injury, had to have staples put in her skull, and still has chronic headaches and neck pain.

"I was heading home from work and came upon a green light," Andrea recalls of the August, 2005, accident. "A car was coming in the opposite direct and turned in front of me and hit me head-on. I was going about 45 mph. My vehicle then re-directed itself and hit another vehicle -- again head-on. So I hit two other vehicles, head-on, and my airbags never deployed."

She adds: "I think my injuries would be less serious if the airbags had deployed. The seat belt stopped me, but not enough to stop my head from hitting something inside the car."

Andrea contacted General Motors after her accident, and the car maker sent an investigator to inspect her truck and other crash data.

"He looked at the truck and took some 200 pictures of the pickup," she says, adding she knew the truck's previous owner and is certain it had never been wrecked. "He also said GM has a computer in its cars that will tell you if there's a problem with the airbags. He checked my truck and said the computer showed the airbag system was operable and the airbags had deployed."

The bottom line?

"When he finished, the investigator told me there's no reason why the airbags should not have gone off in my accident."