C6-er

I was driving today and a 16 year old kid ran a red light and broadsided me. He was doing about 40 mph and spun me around like a top. Most of the force was centered in the left rear quarter panel area and it broke off the left rear wheel and suspension. What triggers the side impact air bag and why didn’t it go off? Man I’m OK but really sore.

Race Prepared

Glad to hear you are ok - except for a few sore spots! Sorry for your loss - hope the cops did their duty with the kid! Are you planning on a repair or ordering a new one?

C6-er

Repair. It was my retirement gift to myself.

AORoads

not to assume it WAS a kid, but hope you are ok. and, unfortunately, that the other driver was, too.

don't know why the side bag didn't go, but it could be it requires a more "direct hit". any more direct and you wouldn't be typing much, it seems to me.

frankly, altho you may not want to, I'd email GM and ask the question. pictures of the accident would help them, too.

good luck, hope you get over the sore stuff, and I keep thinking YOU were LUCKY.

gbgary

glad you're ok. don't know the answer to your question though. guessing it's probably in the door. i would imagine a hard hit from the side like that would get the car totalled.

VettinFan

A real Bummer! Glad your okay. Your question in regard to the side air bags failure to deploy is a good one. Perhaps your repair shop and/or GM can answer that.

Sounds like a little R&R is needed. Good Luck and get well.

AL

thx007

40mph is a HARD hit! Doesn't matter if it's on the door or not, it will slam your body to the side violently. Unless I was just clipped on the corner, I would hope my air bags would deploy in this case!

C6-er

I will follow up with GM. It was a hard enough hit to shatter the drivers door glass and send my glasses out into the street where they were promptly run over.

ILLUSHN

Glad you're OK!

Maybe GM will buy it back to study it.

Jimbeaux

The side impact air bags are located in the seats. I would think it would require a direct and significant impact in the door area in order for them to deploy. Glad to hear you're doing ok.

C6-er

Anybody have a good contact number for GM for this kind of thing?

johnodrake

I would be looking for the INS to total it out and get a new one. It would shock me if you didn't have frame damage.

Glad you are OK, You would be harder to repair...

Jet Stream

Call the Warren tech center and ask for the "sporty car" division offices.

Wayne O

I'm sorry for your accident but glad no one was seriously injured....consider yourself fortunate. I'm guessing the side airbag did not deploy simply due to the location of the impact....but you never know.

My wife put her Durango head-on into a telephone pole...$6,000+ damage pushing the front almost to the engine block...no air bag deployment at all. Sometimes things don't work like they're supposed to.

I hope your car can be repaired or replaced with minimal hassle.

Vettin08

Is your car a 1LT?

If not, I would suspect that it didn't deploy because the location of the impact wouldn't trigger it. Maybe if it detects it that far back, the side air bag doesnt offer any protection? Just a guess.

gilly6993

gald you're ok....any pics?

Sunnyvale Dave

Glad you are OK.

C6-er

Yes my car has the side impact airbags. If the car is designed this way I'm not impressed. With the kind of hit I took I would feel better if I would of had the added protection.

shopdog

Or maybe you'd have burns and a dislocated shoulder. Bag deployment is very violent. Having one go off under your armpit is worse than one going off in your face because it is so much closer to your body when it fires.

The side impact sensor is located in the door below and just forward of the door latch mechanism. Normally, if the impact isn't on the door, the system will not fire.

Snagle

First, I am very happy to hear that you were not seriously injured.

Second, since you were not injured, the airbag NOT deploying is probably a good thing. It was not needed in this accident. Had it deployed, you may have suffered some minor burns and would have additional damage to repair. As others have mentioned, a hit on the side rear of the car is different than a hit in the side center of the car. The later would likely have triggered the side airbags; in your crash it seems they would not have helped and certainly were not needed.

Not to be a gawker, but post a picture of your Vette if you get a chance. It would be nice to see how the Corvette's structure deforms to absorb energy in this type of crash.

Again, glad to hear you were not seriously injured!