I'm just posting to see what you guys think about this situation of my friends... They just bought a brand new Chevy Aveo (You know that new awesome flagship car? :clonk: ). Anyway, they've had it for about 6 months, and my buddies wife rear ended someone doing 40-45 mph, and the air bags didn't deploy? What would you guys do in this situation? This is is BRAND NEW, no was no reason for it IMO, as well as the other crap that randomly goes wrong with it... C'mon GM, get your shift together, and stop selling crap!

Was she hurt because they didn't go off or did the seatbelts do their job?

Daniel

I wouldn't neccesarily think its free money.

For starters, does your friend have the money to take GM to court over this?

Secondly, their may be a reason they didn't go off. I would try to find someone in GM that can answer the question.

I wonder if because she was going so fast, and the reletively low front end of the aveo, if her car slid right under the other vehicle and missed the impact sensors.

What kind of vehicle did she rear end? Was it a taller vehicle?

Jeff

thats not an excuse if she hits anything with the front they should go off, thats the point ;)

For starters, does your friend have the money to take GM to court over this?

No need for money, any ambulance chaser would take it as a contingency case.

I wonder if because she was going so fast, and the reletively low front end of the aveo, if her car slid right under the other vehicle and missed the impact sensors.


I don't think the impact sensors need a direct hit, they're just accelerometers. But if a car gets wedged under another one like you describe, the impact might not be hard enough for the airbags to deploy.

Not to excuse defective airbags if that's the case, but she was doing 40-45 (if she didn't bother to brake at all) and rear-ended someone. She's an idiot and should get nothing. Sorry, just my opinion. Money for nothing...

How about she get her s**t together instead of GM? What if that was a kid on the street instead of another car? How about we talk to the driver she rear-ended at 45mph and see if he needs a good lawyer to sue her?

It would be a different story if another driver veered off the road, hit her head-on and the bags didn't go off - but c'mon she's looking to deflect responsibility and get cash out of GM. Give me a break.

i agree was she not paying attention to the road. talking on a cell phone? she needs. first things first was everyone o.k.? if so then they are lucky. move on with your life. lawsuits cost everyone money. if we sued everyone for everything. what would be next?

Airbags only deploy if the sensors get triggered. One of the risks of driving small tin cans is that they tend to go UNDER things and not deploy the bags. NOT GM's fault though.

I guess the driver in front of her suddenly stopped for some reason, and she couldn't get stopped fast enough... I'm not saying they should sue GM, but perhaps a recall may be in order? I wonder if this has happened to anyone else. It was a truck she rear ended. Whether it was wedged under the truck or not (I don't know if it was), the bags should have done their job. I guess her back is messed up, but shes still alive. I was just wondering what you guys though of this. Maybe the Aveo is to cheap for its own good? ???

If she went under the truck, then that is probably why the bags did not deploy. If the manufacturers made every vehicle safe enough to protect us all from every single situation, cars would probably cost $100,000 and would be large steel boxes with padding everywhere and could not go more than 5 mph.
She should have been paying more attention ... thankfully no one was seriously hurt. Lawsuit .... no way. Driving school ... good idea.
Just my opinion,

If they were suppose to deploy, and didn't, then there is cause for concern. It seems like they (insurance company?) could read the computer and see if it tryed to deploy them, as there would be data showing that. If it didn't try , then I don't know if there would be any data.

A driver stopping "to fast" in front of you is just proof you where to close to stop in time. Now I'm not saying I don't drive to close some times, I certainly do, but it was all her fault and she needs to suck it up. I'd be shocked if she doesn't get sued for rearending the other car, and considering it was 100% her fault she'll almost surely lose.

A driver stopping "to fast" in front of you is just proof you where to close to stop in time. Now I'm not saying I don't drive to close some times, I certainly do, but it was all her fault and she needs to suck it up. I'd be shocked if she doesn't get sued for rearending the other car, and considering it was 100% her fault she'll almost surely lose.
That accident is a guarteeded loss to that lady, but he is asking what would you do about the air bag not working. Like can she maybe sue the dealer, manufacturer or something. I say no. Especially if she didn't get hurt. They'll just put a new one in and probably charge her for it. Like 12 to 15 hundred.

I wrecked a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus (almost like a neon) last summer. I slid sideways and slammed the rear driver's side into a concrete block. The front end didn't have a scratch on it, and my airbags deployed. What's with that?

Its simple... the accident impact must be above a certain precalibrated threshold. Her accident did not meet that criteria. You would be surprised at what will and will not set off an SRS system. Basically if the airbags are not going to do any good in that situation, then they are not deployed.
As long as nobody is seriously injured, she ought to thank her lucky stars for being alive and not try to extort money from a company due to her own inability to safely operate a motor vehicle.

I will back up Saturnstyl, the air bags DO NOT deploy just because you get in an accident. The ACM looks at hundreds of variables before deciding which of the dozens of bags to deploy and how hard to deploy them. Some accidents get zero deployment. Sometimes only the seat belt tensioners deploy and one bag, it all depends. Anyone looking to sue just because the bags didn't deploy, well....lets just say I guess Darwin missed Of course I guess if he didn’t her family would sue GM for not building an accident proof car and allowing her to be involved in one in the first place. :sad:

I will agree with Dennis68 and Saturnstyl. In some cases the airbags will actually cause injury rather than prevent it. Think of it as a small bomb going off in your dash board because that is what it is.

In any event, I hope your wife will be ok and will heal up back to normal.

Bill

one of the reasons insurance is so high
people looking for money that do not deserve it
I rear ended a car and pushed it into another:clonk:
my bags did not go off
I was not hurt
I also would not consider a lawsuit
it was my fault - and I was damn glad I didn't hurt anyone

[QUOTE=saturnstyl]Its simple... the accident impact must be above a certain precalibrated threshold. Her accident did not meet that criteria. You would be surprised at what will and will not set off an SRS system. Basically if the airbags are not going to do any good in that situation, then they are not deployed.
As long as nobody is seriously injured, she ought to thank her lucky stars for being alive and not try to extort money from a company due to her own Yep....

Insurance is the new lottery: find some way to get at someone else's money. The new reality is that people are not responsible for anything, instead it is presumed that people are stupid by nature and must be protected and compensated. Sad entitlement mentality.

The algorithim for determining when to deploy air bags is fairly complex. Think about it: they have to design something that fires off when it is needed and can ignore false positives.

All the safety devices in the world cannot replace a driver being cautious and aware of their surroundings. As has already been pointed out, there is no way to design a safety device to be 100% effective 100% of the time. The whole reason for the widespread acceptance of popular safety equipment is the idea that it saves people more often than it lets them down. At another end of the scale most people agree that it is a good thing that motorcyclists wear a helmet for safety, yet I know of someone who died because of a helmet - but I still believe that helmets are a good thing overall.

Aveo joke:
if the Aveo is Chevy's entry level car
and it represents the "American Revolution" in the big dog division
then why does the revolution start in South Korea?

Thomas

Lawsuit .... no way. Driving school ... good idea.
Just my opinion,

I second that opinion.

Too many ambulance chasing lawyers and money hungry get-rich-quick people out there.

There are many types of air bag sensors out there. The ones from ford I've dealt with you need a direct hit to trigger it. Some ChryCo's measure g's to trigger (in a very crude, but effective way).

Just because you have a front impact doesn't mean the bags should deploy....remember what SRS stands for? Supplemental Restraint System. Wear your seatbelt and remember to pay attention to the road when you are driving.

Joe

I can not even understand why one's mind would go to "$cha-ching$!" when she was obviously in the wrong, following too close, and caused an accident. Was she seriously injured because the airbags did not deploy? Perhaps GM could step up and buy her a bus pass...........