Airbag failure during crash?

My car was at a complete stop on a curb and a girl lost control of her car and came straight at me. She hit the whole front drivers side and completely wrecked my car. The insurance says it's a total loss. But I don't understand why my airbags did not deploy. Is it because my car was at a complete stop? Please help me out so that I could explain it to the insurance. It turns out now that my passenger is also suffering from neck pain from her body wobbling all over my car. Oh and yes we where both wearing our seatbelts. We even have the scars on our chest to prove it. But should have the airbags deployed or is it only when we hit a vehicle and the car is in motion?

UCANTCME

Front end collisions and not at just part of the side..it missed the sensors.

Airbags are designed to deploy only when they might be needed to prevent serious injury. In order for airbags to be effective they must deploy early in a crash; in a frontal crash this typically occurs within the first 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds).

A vehicle's airbag control module relies on feedback from crash sensors to predict whether an event is severe enough to warrant an airbag deployment.

Fred C

If it hit the front driver's side, it was not an accident that the airbags are meant to deploy in. You don't have anything to explain to insurance, they know the sensors are set to set the airbag off on a straight impact. The proof is in your description of you wobbling all over. If the airbags had deployed while your bodies were going sideways from the impact, an airbag would have pretty much ensured one or both of you would have had a broken neck.
If you have scars from the seat belts, I suggest they weren't worn properly, that they were slightly loose. They should fit tight enough that your body moves only a fraction of an inch before they lock.
If the vehicle had hit you head on, the airbags would have deployed.

Marc R.

The airbags will typically only deploy in a frontal collision. It really depends on the angle that the collision occurs at. A side impact will render the airbags useless in preventing injury whether they go off or not.

Doctor J

The vehicle must be hit from the FRONT (stopped or moving). It sounds like you were hit from the side. However, if your car is equipped with optional "side impact airbags", those should have deployed.

It would be wise for both of you to have a thorough evaluation by your family Chiropractor(s) as soon as possible.

Best wishes and good luck.

rocifi

It depends on the car and your cars year. Some are wired different. Some you need to be going a certain speed some you need to be hit at a certain speed. Most of the time it doesn't matter if it's direct front or at an angle, there are sensors on the fender too. Like mentioned before, some next-gen smart SRS systems determine if the crash is severe enough using weight, sensors, position etc but not all, that's why it depends on the car.

lexusjus

I think the airbags only deploy if the car is on or over like 25 miles an hour i think.. not sure

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