[Someguy]

My friend was in an accident with his 2020ish SRT. He wasn't wearing his seat belt. The air bags didn't deploy. He was badly hurt but is recovering.

We are trying to figure out what happened to cause the accident. Some of the things his wife is saying don't quite add up. The vehicle was taken to an accident investigator to be checked out.

I have some questions...

1) Will airbags deploy in an accident if the driver isn't wearing the seat belt ?

2) If his vehicle was in an accident prior to them owning it, is there a way that the air bags could be non functional and yet the air bag light not illuminate ?

3) If the air bag fuses are removed from the fuse box will the air bag light come on ?

Thanks

 

[Vice-White]

Uhm, you are looking for data for a possible law suit, so have the victim work with his attorney and accident investigators. You DO NOT want data from this forum that could be wrong, very wrong or very very stupid and the vitim gets laughed out of court.

 

[White Elemant]

Pretty much what @Vice-White wrote.

As you will find this info elsewhere, I might just post it here:

Seatbelts and airbags are separate systems. Airbags do not need seatbelts to be worn to deploy.

It is possible to hack the airbag system in many ways: fooling the system with resistors if the airbag is not present, hacking the control unit etc. The system itself is highly redundand for obvious reasons. Any failure of any component should trigger the warning light, if not hacked.

Simple removal of the fuse should trigger the warning light.

Airbag deployment is dependent on several factors: force of impact, direction of impact, orientation and overall motion of the vehicle etc. It may be that the collision did not meet all criteria for deployment.

And finally: what the hell was your friend thinking not wearing a seatbelt? Glad he didn't win the darwin award, hope he learned his lesson.

 

[Someguy]

Uhm, you are looking for data for a possible law suit, so have the victim work with his attorney and accident investigators. You DO NOT want data from this forum that could be wrong, very wrong or very very stupid and the vitim gets laughed out of court.

Relax. I'm not going to court and my friend won't be using anything from this discussion. I'm just trying to understand the situation.

 

[Someguy]

And finally: what the hell was your friend thinking not wearing a seatbelt? Glad he didn't win the darwin award, hope he learned his lesson.

I know ! We can't figure that out either. Not sure if it was a regular habit with him or not. FWIW, I have another friend that will drive blocks before putting a seat belt on. WTH ?

He didn't win the Darwin award, but he is pretty messed up. He has been in the hospital for 6 weeks now. He has life changing injuries. I'd share more details but I want to respect the privacy of the family.

Wear your seatbelt, kiddos !

 

[Someguy]

Simple removal of the fuse should trigger the warning light.

Would you be willing to check that for me ?

On a 2020 Durango, the air bag fuses are F85 and F86. 10A each.

2020 Dodge Durango fuse box diagram - StartMyCar

www.startmycar.com

 

[RTao]

I currently work at a body shop. I’ve been the estimator for MANY large to extreme collisions where the airbags did not deploy. I’ve also seen some minor collisions where the airbag DID deploy. I often questioned to myself, why did the airbags not deploy on this large impact? I’ve found through ALLDATA, that there are anywhere from 4-6 impact sensors in the front of the engine bay. That being said, the impact does need to physically trigger these sensors for the airbag to go off. It’s very possible that the impact your friend sustained was not in an area where the sensors are mounted.

 

[Someguy]

I’ve found through ALLDATA, that there are anywhere from 4-6 impact sensors in the front of the engine bay. That being said, the impact does need to physically trigger these sensors for the airbag to go off. It’s very possible that the impact your friend sustained was not in an area where the sensors are mounted.

Interesting.

 

[White Elemant]

What kind of a collision was this? Full head on, partial head on, angled, side, rear...?

 

[frictioncircle]

There are too many unknown variables in this case. As was stated the impact needs to trigger a sensor

 

[Someguy]

What kind of a collision was this? Full head on, partial head on, angled, side, rear...?

Head on into the corner of a building. The building made a V about 24" deep into the front, into the engine compartment.

There was no way the sensors weren't triggered. We are wondering if the computer figured that the driver, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, would be more injured by the air bag than the crash itself and decided to not fire the air bags.

The driver has no recollection of what happened. We don't (yet) know how fast he was going. An accident investigator has examined the vehicle. I suspect s/he will be able to see speed, acceleration and braking info from the ECM. Not sure if the family will share this with us or not.

BTW... is there a way for an average person to pull crash data from an ECM using OBDII ? Or is this something that only the manufacturer can do ?

 

[White Elemant]

Nope, airbag should have deployed (if it actually is in the car...). There is no scenario where a fully grown adult would be better off without an airbag.

Judging by the "wedgie" the building gave the car, and personal experience I'd say the speed would've been somewhere within a 30 to 40 mph range.

 

[Someguy]

Nope, airbag should have deployed (if it actually is in the car...). There is no scenario where a fully grown adult would be better off without an airbag.

Judging by the "wedgie" the building gave the car, and personal experience I'd say the speed would've been somewhere within a 30 to 40 mph range.

The mystery continues.

 

[RTao]

Head on into the corner of a building. The building made a V about 24" deep into the front, into the engine compartment.

There was no way the sensors weren't triggered. We are wondering if the computer figured that the driver, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, would be more injured by the air bag than the crash itself and decided to not fire the air bags.

The driver has no recollection of what happened. We don't (yet) know how fast he was going. An accident investigator has examined the vehicle. I suspect s/he will be able to see speed, acceleration and braking info from the ECM. Not sure if the family will share this with us or not.

BTW... is there a way for an average person to pull crash data from an ECM using OBDII ? Or is this something that only the manufacturer can do ?

2 feet measured from the very front of the bumper should be well past the radiator support and through the intake tube causing damage to the engine. Airbag should definitely have went off. Airbags should have deployed whether the occupants were wearing seatbelts or not. Maybe a lawyer should get involved.

 

[Someguy]

2 feet measured from the very front of the bumper should be well past the radiator support and through the intake tube causing damage to the engine.

Yeah that is what happened. The hit was a bit to the driver's side of center. It pushed the block back a bit.

Airbag should definitely have went off. Airbags should have deployed whether the occupants were wearing seatbelts or not. Maybe a lawyer should get involved.

The air bags did not fire. The wife is saying something about fuses being too small. They bought the vehicle used, was driven by the dealer's wife, kinda as a demo unit. No accident history that can be found.

Something doesn't make sense.

 

[RTao]

Yeah that is what happened. The hit was a bit to the driver's side of center. It pushed the block back a bit.



The air bags did not fire. The wife is saying something about fuses being too small. They bought the vehicle used, was driven by the dealer's wife, kinda as a demo unit. No accident history that can be found.

Something doesn't make sense.

JUST SPECULATION There are plenty of used car dealers (more than likely 80%+)that buy wrecked vehicles for dirt cheap, have a mom and pop body shop they work with repair it for cheap, and resell for a huge profit. Vehicles that have been in a wreck and total, get towed to a junk yard, but those vehicles can be bought as a “parts car” and not get a salvage title attached to it. I don’t want this discussion turning into a “conspiracy” about used car dealers and how they get their cars, but it is a possibility.. on a side note, the previous owner could’ve had basic liability insurance (or no insurance at all), wrecked the vehicle, and sold it without letting any knowledge of an accident attached to the vehicle vin/title. I wonder if the accident inspector, or vehicle appraiser can find evidence of aftermarket parts on the vehicle. That would be a clear sign the vehicle had been in an accident prior . If the vehicle is a 2022 or newer, there is unlikely any aftermarket parts available yet.

 

[JC Hemi]

Can you post some pics of your buddies wrecked vehicle?

 

[Someguy]

JUST SPECULATION There are plenty of used car dealers (more than likely 80%+)that buy wrecked vehicles for dirt cheap, have a mom and pop body shop they work with repair it for cheap, and resell for a huge profit. Vehicles that have been in a wreck and total, get towed to a junk yard, but those vehicles can be bought as a “parts car” and not get a salvage title attached to it. I don’t want this discussion turning into a “conspiracy” about used car dealers and how they get their cars, but it is a possibility..

I won't say that didn't happen, but it is highly unlikely in this situation.

on a side note, the previous owner could’ve had basic liability insurance (or no insurance at all), wrecked the vehicle, and sold it without letting any knowledge of an accident attached to the vehicle vin/title. I wonder if the accident inspector, or vehicle appraiser can find evidence of aftermarket parts on the vehicle. That would be a clear sign the vehicle had been in an accident prior . If the vehicle is a 2022 or newer, there is unlikely any aftermarket parts available yet.

His is a 2020 or 2021.

 

[Someguy]

Can you post some pics of your buddies wrecked vehicle?

I won't due to the family's privacy.

 

[JC Hemi]

My .02 Have your friend contact attorney, communicate with their insurance company and comply with local police investigating the accident.