Airbags didn't get deployed

[auto_22]

I had an incident where one of my friend was driving my vehicle and while backing-up, instead of Reverse, he put the car in Drive mode by mistake and put feat of the accelerator instead of brake because of which the car with full speed bumped into the wall ahead of us even surpassing the walk-way curb. Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed, there was no warning from vehicle.

What could be done now?

 

[compu85]

Did the seat belt tensioners fire? Airbags might not have been needed.

 

[P85_DA]

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I had an incident where one of my friend was driving my vehicle and while backing-up, instead of Reverse, he put the car in Drive mode by mistake and put feat of the accelerator instead of brake because of which the car with full speed bumped into the wall ahead of us even surpassing the walk-way curb. Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed, there was no warning from vehicle.

What could be done now?

So he meant to put it in reverse and floor it in reverse? Did you have creep enabled for him?

 

[jaguar36]

Probably wasn't going fast enough for airbags to deploy.

What can be done now? Have it towed to a body shop and wait a few months for it to be fixed.

 

[johnster007]

Dude I feel bad for you—but worse for your buddy.

 

[ewoodrick]

I don't believe that airbags deploy under certain speeds. If your buddy wasn't hurt, then indeed they performed correctly. Airbags will generally hurt when deployed, so they don't deploy at all times.

 

[MP3Mike]

Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed

If the airbags didn't deploy and the passengers in the vehicle didn't sustain severe injuries they did exactly what they were supposed to nothing, as they weren't necessary. Be glad, if the airbags had gone off your vehicle would likely be totaled. (Assuming that it won't be anyhow.)

 

[mattack4000]

Why are these people punching it in “reverse”

 

[P85_DA]

Why are these people punching it in “reverse”

Probably had creep off

 

[brkaus]

Probably had creep off

Creep or no creep. People must learn to lightly apply the power until they know all is correct.

 

[ecarfan]

Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed, there was no warning from vehicle.

Sorry to hear about that accident and glad no one was hurt. Which means the seat belts did their job and the force of impact was not sufficient to cause the air bags to deploy. Based on your description of the situation it seems unlikely the car was going over 15mph at impact; does that sound about right? I would not describe the damage as “completely smashed”. It is significant, but the windshield is intact and it appears you could drive the car enough to get it into a parking place. “Completely smashed” to me would mean that the passenger compartment was crushed and the car was undriveable. That is clearly not the case.

 

[Yinn]

I had an incident where one of my friend was driving my vehicle and while backing-up, instead of Reverse, he put the car in Drive mode by mistake and put feat of the accelerator instead of brake because of which the car with full speed bumped into the wall ahead of us even surpassing the walk-way curb. Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed, there was no warning from vehicle.

What could be done now?

For what can be done? Call the insurance company. Chances are it’s not totaled, but certainly thousands in damage.

Based on your last sentence though of no airbags and no warnings, seems you’re looking for legal compensation. It’d be tough to get anything out of Tesla, seems the car operated as designed with the airbags. Perhaps your friend has a good umbrella policy that you may be able to explore..

 

[mattack4000]

Class action lawsuit!

 

[run-the-joules]

I had an incident where one of my friend was driving my vehicle and while backing-up, instead of Reverse, he put the car in Drive mode by mistake and put feat of the accelerator instead of brake because of which the car with full speed bumped into the wall ahead of us even surpassing the walk-way curb. Car was completely smashed but no Airbags were deployed, there was no warning from vehicle.

What could be done now?

Now you get the insurance company to repair the car, you make your friend pay for the deductible (and your price hike, if you see fit), and move on.

Airbags should only deploy when needed. Since you're here posting, seems like the system worked as designed.

 

[Darren Donovan]

Sorry about the accident.
I'm curious, is he still your friend? Lol.

 

[Yinn]

Class action lawsuit!

Are you trying to get this thread locked?

 

[brkaus]

Friend of mine was burned and injured from airbags. If they can be avoided, that’s for the best.

 

[Vitold]

If airbags deployed your repair cost would have been higher and your friend injured if his hand was across the steering wheel which is common while backing up.

 

[jboy210]

Unless he was really out of control it was probably too slow.

NHTSA states: Air bags are typically designed to deploy in frontal and near-frontal collisions, which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately 8 to 14 miles per hour (mph).