My '07 RAV4 side airbag blew up in my face!

Bizarre, but true. Imagine my surprise:
Anyone else have this problem?
I bought my RAV4 because of its safety ratings
My '07 RAV4 side airbags deployed without anything hitting the car or the car hitting anything else and sustaining NO exterior damage. It "deployed" with a huge bang and knocked me sideways so that I lost control, but regained it and got it stopped before it could crash. I now have a hearing loss in my left ear where the airbag hit. Besides being incredibly frightened, my E.N.&T. doctor said inner ear damage is typical with airbag deployment. Moreover, I'm driving a rental car at my own expense because I'm now afraid of what else could happen; FRONT airbag deploy? This happened three months ago and a Toyota inspector came to take photos-I spoke to him and he could not tell me the cause. So far NO satisfaction from Toyota. Not even a lousy rental. Today I called the TV news media locally and regionally.I've also written a letter describing my ordeal to Yukitoshi Funo, CEO of Toyota N. Anerica. I'm wandering why Toyota isn't tearing my car apart to find the cause, and find out how many more like mine are out there.

WOW that's crazy, I hope everything gets resolve quickly and that you find some way of compensation for your hard times... what's your insurance company saying?
Get a good lawyer and get that TV News crew on your side ASAP!

Please do tell any outcome of this for the rest of us to be aware, my sister just bought a 2008 model and I'm just finding out weird stuff about Toyota that I never expected from them.

Both the insurance company and the Ohio Hiway patrolman at the scene agreed there was no accident, so no accident report could be filed. Both agreed it was clearly the car's defect, since it sustained no other damage, which Toyota couldn't find either. Communication with CAR TALK (Click and Clack the Tappett brothers-great show!) on NPR indicates that it was a faulty airbag sensor system. Tomorrow I need to contact the NHTSA, fed gov't agency in charge of recalls, and the California Attorney General's office. I've been contemplating a lawsuit now vs. Toyota and I will continue raising as big a stink vs. Toyota as I can muster.

No matter what course of action you choose to follow, filing a complaint with the NHTSA is essential. Please follow through.