During our investigation, we examined more than 160 complaints from consumers about their airbags failing to deploy in serious accidents. Those complaints involved the airbags in vehicles made by eight different automakers. We contacted each of those car makers and asked them to respond to the following questions.
Larry West, a product liaison engineer with Volkswagen of America, answered for the company.
1). What's your message to consumers who have safety concerns with the airbags in one of your vehicles?
West: No matter what car maker is involved, consumers need to get their manufacturer involved right away. The sooner the better. Don't wait for six months and have the vehicle fixed. Just today, I received a call from a consumer who was concerned that only one airbag went off during an accident and she thought both should have deployed. But the accident was nine months ago. Everything on the vehicle has now been replaced, and anything we'd tell her would be an opinion.
It's hard for anyone to go in and figure it out after the fact.2). What should consumers do if their airbags fail to deploy during an accident in one of your vehicles?
West: They should call our Customer Care Line at 1-800-822-8987 or/Audi, 1-800-822-2834. They certainly are free to call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but they (NHTSA) really like the manufacturer to resolve the issue first.
The Federal Tread Act (Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act) requires us (and all car makers) to give all of our complaints and reports to NHTSA every month.
The rule with airbags that consumer must keep is mind is that they are a supplemental restraint system. They are designed to slow you down, but they are not designed to do the whole job. Your seat belts do most of the work. Air bags are really designed to protect consumers from fatal or near-fatal injuries. If you have a fender bender, you should not expect the airbags to go off.
3). Does your company send someone out to investigate an accident if an airbag fails to deploy in one of your vehicles?
West: That's decided when we're informed by our customers. Sometime investigators are not sent out by our office, but we have people all over-dealers and body shops-that send us pictures and other data. Our investigations involve examining lots of pictures, downloading control modules, inspecting the vehicles and the parts, and sometimes going to the accident scenes. We absolutely share all information in our investigation with our customers. We used to issue a written report, but now we do our reports electronically.
4). Has your company recalled any vehicles because of problems with the airbags failing to deploy in an accident? If so, which vehicles -- year, make, model?
West: I looked quickly through all our campaigns and I didn't see any. So, to the best of my knowledge, there have been no recalls for that specific issue.
