My parents crashed there S60 Volvo: No Airbags Deployed...HELP!!

[far2000]

Hey alll....Bad news, last night my Parents Hit a Cow on the road, Front Right hand side damage, Including whole front windscreen destroyed, but not 1 airbag deployed.???? Its a 2006 Model with just under 30 000Kilometres, with maintenance plan...My parents had there seat belt on...so that cant be the reason....and it was a FRONT right side damage (Directly in front of my dad
driverSide) ......Shouldnt the airbags be deployed..??

Thank god no1 is seriously injured, jus light bruises here and there when the glass pieces from the windscreen flew inside the cabin...My dad is really pissed and has filed a complaint with Volvo South Africa, but what is the way forward..? what exactly can we claim and how best should this situation be handled..??...this is my dads 2nd Volvo so i assume heshould be regarded as a good customer....

Its such a huge disapointment cause, my dad bought the vehicle for the legendary Volvo safety...The good thing thouh, the car handled well and the body took the impact verry well, a huge 1tonne bull and the car was still drivin befor the electronics shut down....

Hoping 2 here some recommendations....

 

[cawimmer430]

Just be happy your parents are ok.

As for the airbags not deploying, let your Volvo dealership take a look at it or have the insurance conduct an investigation (less bias involved than if Volvo does it).

 

[Centurion]

Sad story. How much of the front end was damaged? Only a busted bumper and front light or is the chassi and structure also damaged??

 

[Tarek]

Sorry to hear that Farouk but glad ur parents are fine.Maybe the collision didn't reach the sensor?

 

[far2000]

Just be happy your parents are ok.

As for the airbags not deploying, let your Volvo dealership take a look at it or have the insurance conduct an investigation (less bias involved than if Volvo does it).

Thanx Christian..I am verry relieved, but also shocked...it could have been worse.....

 

[far2000]

Sad story. How much of the front end was damaged? Only a busted bumper and front light or is the chassi and structure also damaged??

They hit the rear of a cow....Front right side Bumper Caved, Right Side headlight Destroyed..Right side Bonnet Crumpled and hit in the engine...Front Right WIndow Bar heavily out of position...Not even Curtain or side Airbags Deployed....Side of the Car heavily scratched.....

 

[Centurion]

.

 

[far2000]

Sorry to hear that Farouk but glad ur parents are fine.Maybe the collision didn't reach the sensor?

Thanx Tarek, it was a verry hectic night for me last nite,i had 2 rush from Swaziland to South Africa, Luckily it was only 1.5hrs away..where the accident took place....Had my heart in my mouth,as i got the call through a 2nd Party, as my parents were abit 2 shaken 2 do anytin..Luckily there were Police vehicles on the scene almost immediately, and they really took care of everything....

 

[cawimmer430]

Thanx Christian..I am verry relieved, but also shocked...it could have been worse.....

Volvo's are good and safe cars. Be glad the seatbelts worked.

 

[far2000]

A cracked windshield doesn't deploy airbags. For airbags to be deployed the front end has to be hit hard and in the right area.

It's a bit difficult to judge the whole thing since you haven't attached pictures nor given us a proper description of the damage.

I undstand what you mean..unforrunately i didnt take any pics, as the car was already towed when i picked my parents from the police station,

The car hit the cow directlyon my fathers (drivers) side, it damagedbumper,hit the frontlighjts, then it hit the Bonnet , which caved in2 the engine, and inally parts of the cow hit the windscreen..imagin f the car itself went thru the windscreen..? u cant tell me the Airbag should nott hav been deployed..?? my dad was verry lucky...that it wasnt mor serious....

 

[Centurion]

They hit the rear of a cow....Front right side Bumper Caved, Right Side headlight Destroyed..Right side Bonnet Crumpled and hit in the engine...Front Right WIndow Bar heavily out of position...Not even Curtain or side Airbags Deployed....Side of the Car heavily scratched.....

If the right A pillar sustained damaged then the curtain airbags should have been deployed. That's messed up. Contact Volvo, then call your insurance company and let them examine the car before Volvo gets to touch it. It's highly important that you don't let volvo touch it.

 

[martinbo]

Hey Farouk, so sorry to hear about your parents accident.

As for the the airbags not deploying from what I can read from your description of the accident then they performed exactly as they're designed to... rest assured Volvo still makes one of the very safest cars in an impact or collision.

Accelerometers that measure the rate of deceleration are designed into the sub-frame close to where crumples zones are located. Only if the nature (i.e. location) and force of the impact are measured within pre-programmed tolerances will the airbags deploy.

In this event, the airbags not deploying probably averted a much more serious accident.

 

[far2000]

Volvo's are good and safe cars. Be glad the seatbelts worked.

I was impressed by the Structural INTegrity of the car, i expected much worse, and my mom did tell me while the accident happened, the seatbelt pushed here right backwards,....But thats still no excuse for the airbags not 2 deploy...

 

[coolraoul]

Just be happy your parents are safe! If they have nothing then the car did its job very well, even if the Airbags didn't deploy!

Concerning this question of Airbags, if you're really concerned you should hire an expert to analyze the crash (surely your insurance will do so anyway) and see if the Airbags had to pop.

Looks like a big crash, but if it's not really frontal but side-frontal (hit in the front corner) then the Airbag won't deploy.

http://imageshack.us




And if the cow absorbed a lot of energy by beeing blasted away, maybe the deceleration of the car was not hard enough to make the airbags deploy.

 

[far2000]

Just be happy your parents are safe! If they have nothing then the car did its job very well, even if the Airbags didn't deploy!

Concerning this question of Airbags, if you're really concerned you should hire an expert to analyze the crash (surely your insurance will do so anyway) and see if the Airbags had to pop.

Looks like a big crash, but if it's not really frontal but side-frontal (hit in the front corner) then the Airbag won't deploy.

http://imageshack.us


And if the cow absorbed a lot of energy by beeing blasted away, maybe the deceleration of the car was not hard enough to make the airbags deploy.

The front side bumper and headlight was shredded....i would assume that its within Airbag deployment......

 

[klier]

Poor cow.......

 

[far2000]

If the right A pillar sustained damaged then the curtain airbags should have been deployed. That's messed up. Contact Volvo, then call your insurance company and let them examine the car before Volvo gets to touch it. It's highly important that you don't let volvo touch it.

The pillar was bent inwards...and the side door was also bent inwards slightly and heavily scratched...the side airbags should hav deployed even though the impact was not straight on the side...

 

[Centurion]

The pillar was bent inwards...and the side door was also bent inwards slightly and heavily scratched...the side airbags should hav deployed even though the impact was not straight on the side...

At what velocity did the impact occur?

This really doesn't surprise me. Volvo are in general not very safe cars. Volvo recall close to 120 000 car EVERY single year. They always have glitches in production and reliability.

 

[martinbo]

If the right A pillar sustained damaged then the curtain airbags should have been deployed. That's messed up. Contact Volvo, then call your insurance company and let them examine the car before Volvo gets to touch it. It's highly important that you don't let volvo touch it.

No, this is incorrect. The curtain and side airbags are designed to deploy in a severe side impact to prevent head, neck and shoulder injuries. The Volvo performed correctly in my opinion...

Remember people, an airbag deploys at over 200 km/h. The last thing you want is that thing blowing up in your face while the car is still moving! Airbags ought not to deploy if they're not needed to.

The bumper, bonnet and A-pillar performed the exact type of protection that was needed for this kind of impact. This is my opinion in my capacity of driving instructor and given my limited understanding that your parents only suffered minor injuries. Just ten years ago a Kudu coming through the windscreen of an employee of the company I worked for killed the front occupants.

 

[far2000]

Poor cow.......

The cow,or should i say bull was still alive,even after losing its ass and 1 of its legs, it had 2 be shot by one of the Police Officers on the scene.....