[Darkpitiless]

Hello. i drive an 09 BMW 320i and i made an accident at about 60Km/h. I was alone in the car and i wasn't wearing the seat belt. the thing is that my Airbag and the passenger Airbag they both Deployed though there wasn't any passenger with me!!! i have a full insurance for my car but i think there is something wrong with my car. i know that it is a safety procedure for the airbags not to deploy if the driver isn't wearing the seat belt at low speeds!. I didn't tell my dealer about this because i'm busy working on the insurance paper as for now. but i know that they won't concider this as a big issue!. and now that i asked them if they're going to give me a spare car until they fix my car they said they don't!. I know that other dealers like Lexus and AUDI do give spare cars in such cases. And as a BMW owner i refuse to drive anything else but a BMW. the airbag deployment was a big issue because that crash was at a low speed about (60km/H) and i wasn't wearing the seat belt therefor the airbags caused the only injury to me! and also there is one more thing, I used the SOS button but nothing happened, i asked the dealer if it works here in Kuwait they said it works but the sales man that sold me the car may have not programed it!

My Questions are:

1. Was the airbags deployment right? or was there something wrong with my car?.

2. The SOS didn't work and thats the sales man's fault, is there anything i can do about it ?.

3. Do i have the right to get a spare car for what happened?

* Before .


* After .


How the hell did the Airbags deploy??? Both of them not just mine!.. No passenger.

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by Darkpitiless

Hello. i drive an 09 BMW 320i and i made an accident at about 60Km/h. I was alone in the car and i wasn't wearing the seat belt.

I'm just going to make a guess here but I have a feeling that has something to do with it...

I would think safety features like airbags usually work correctly if you use all the other safety features correctly too. The car probably realized there's weight on the seats but no belt on. And to prevent you from getting flung all over the car, it deployed the airbags out of safety because it had no idea whether you were still in your seat or flying out another window. If you had your seatbelt on, I don't think either bag would have deployed.

[Darkpitiless]

Originally Posted by Andy M

I'm just going to make a guess here but I have a feeling that has something to do with it...

I would think safety features like airbags usually work correctly if you use all the other safety features correctly too. The car probably realized there's weight on the seats but no belt on. And to prevent you from getting flung all over the car, it deployed the airbags out of safety because it had no idea whether you were still in your seat or flying out another window. If you had your seatbelt on, I don't think either bag would have deployed.

What about the passenger's airbag?

[SoCalTech]

Did you have something in the passenger seat? A book bag or something?
Wear your seatbelt. You wouldn't have been injured at all if you were wearing it, that's a very minor accident.
Are you asking for a loaner for free? They don't have to give you a loaner at all, much less for non-warranty work. Did you offer to pay for the loaner? The dealership didn't cause the accident.
Not sure about SOS in kuwait. You never performed a test call to make sure everything was working properly?
Was the deployment proper? Hard to say, but if you walked away alive from an accident, the airbags probably did the right thing.

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by Darkpitiless

What about the passenger's airbag?

Like I said, you had your seatbelt off. Car probably figures out that there's weight on the drivers seat, you're in an accident that's moderately fast, and since your seatbelt is off, it doesn't know if you're moving to the side. Also the impact looked like it was just drivers side so the forces on you inside the car are at an angle with the direction towards the passenger side (any faster you would have gone through passenger side windshield so deploying that airbag makes sense).

I say it's not a problem but just really smart engineering by BMW to save you from going through the window. Just wear your belt next time ok?

[Darkpitiless]

Originally Posted by Andy M

Like I said, you had your seatbelt off. Car probably figures out that there's weight on the drivers seat, you're in an accident that's moderately fast, and since your seatbelt is off, it doesn't know if you're moving to the side. Also the impact looked like it was just drivers side so the forces on you inside the car are at an angle with the direction towards the passenger side (any faster you would have gone through passenger side windshield so deploying that airbag makes sense).

I say it's not a problem but just really smart engineering by BMW to save you from going through the window. Just wear your belt next time ok?

I don't know about my airbag deployment but i still think it wasn't necessary because the hit didn't even break the head lights + there was nothing on the passenger's seat!! but now my questions is, should my dealer give me a spare car until he fixes mine???

[nyc3r]

you won't get loaner car from dealer.. you can get a rental if you have rental coverage on your insurance.. otherwise, you're sol. just be glad you are alive.