Wrong Side Airbag Deployed

[htiburon2003]

On March 15th I was involved in an accident. Nothing too serious but very scary at the same time. To make a long story short, I rear ended another vehicle and only the passenger side air bag deployed. I was the only passenger (driver) in my car and I was wearing my seatbelt. Most of the damage was caused on the front driver side of the car.
This may not sound like much but, It is very scary to know that only one airbag deployed and the wrong side nontheless. This makes me very concerned and I would like for anyone with the same experience to post under this thead to see if it is a usual occurance with our cars.
Who knows what would have happened if the accident had been worse.

To top it all off, I called my dealership and I explained what had happened and they said "bring the car in, we'll take care of it for you" .................Right, like i want to be driving around with a deployed airbag. Next thing you know the drivers side goes off.

here are some PICS

http://www.shareanyware.com/kolt/ort...ger_airbag.jpg
http://www.shareanyware.com/kolt/orta02_front.jpg
http://www.shareanyware.com/kolt/orta02_dual_sides.jpg
http://www.shareanyware.com/kolt/orta02_dual_front.jpg
http://www.shareanyware.com/kolt/orta02_dual_engine.jpg

[danieldench]

You may be able to sue them. A friend of mine was in an accident in a Toyota RAV-4 and the airbags didn't deploy when they should have. They ended up settling with Toyota offering her any new Toyota she wanted.

[nisco]

...thats a serious issue.. and it has been brought up before...
im glad to hear youre ok... but thats really scary...
DO NOT BRING IT TO YOUR DEALERSHIP!
go there and seek info on this problem.. and see what you get outa them
if nothing ask to call hyundai of america...
its happened in several tibs... youre not teh only one.. thats a scary thought
and yes legal action is very very much so suggested

[danieldench]

After reviewing your photos there may actually be a good explanation why the passenger bag came out and not the driver. As obvious from the photos, the collision was not that major at all. Looks like you may have love-tapped someone at a light. Well, the driver's side airbag is alot LESS sensitive than the passenger because you do not want the driver's side accidently deploying at the wrong moment and causing the driver to get in an accident. For example, hitting a big pothole or having a tire blow out, you would not want this to deploy the driver's side airbag. Also, in a minor accident the airbag can injure you more than if it hadn't deployed. The steering wheel will collapse should you happen to hit it. The passenger side, however, is MORE sensitive because there is no collapsable steering wheel to stop the passenger. Also, the airbag is farther away from the passengers face which means it is less likely to cause head or neck injury if deployed at an inopportune moment (or even at the right moment.) I myself do not put any faith in airbags. If you are wearing your seat belt an airbag most of the time will not make a difference. In fact, they will often bruise you more than anything else. If you had been in a more major accident and actually damaged your crumple zones, the driver's side airbag should deploy. Of course, the only way to find out is to manually activate one of your driver's side airbag sensors and see if it deploys the bag.

[portscan69]

Personally if everyone would wear a seatbelt who drove a 03 Tiburon and up wouldnt even need airbags. (i'll explain) Did you know the Tiburon is equiped with a 3 point seatbelt system with an add on. The car is designed when impact occurs an electic charge is sent to a cartridge inside the seatbelt mechanism. This cartridge explodes sorta like a shot gun shell. This explosion turns a pully type device and actually draws you back in the seat. This all happens at a pace so fast its not noticeable. In the event of a crash this helps one from being smacked in the face by the airbag on a Tiburon. Pretty good engineering if you ask me.

[nisco]

did you jus say we dont need air bags?

[portscan69]

no. said if we all wore seatbelts in a tiburon you really wouldnt need them with the seat belt system.. dont get me wrong im all about them i was just stating how the seatbelt system is designed

[curbie]

Originally Posted by danieldench

After reviewing your photos there may actually be a good explanation why the passenger bag came out and not the driver. As obvious from the photos, the collision was not that major at all. Looks like you may have love-tapped someone at a light. Well, the driver's side airbag is alot LESS sensitive than the passenger because you do not want the driver's side accidently deploying at the wrong moment and causing the driver to get in an accident. For example, hitting a big pothole or having a tire blow out, you would not want this to deploy the driver's side airbag. Also, in a minor accident the airbag can injure you more than if it hadn't deployed. The steering wheel will collapse should you happen to hit it. The passenger side, however, is MORE sensitive because there is no collapsable steering wheel to stop the passenger. Also, the airbag is farther away from the passengers face which means it is less likely to cause head or neck injury if deployed at an inopportune moment (or even at the right moment.) I myself do not put any faith in airbags. If you are wearing your seat belt an airbag most of the time will not make a difference. In fact, they will often bruise you more than anything else. If you had been in a more major accident and actually damaged your crumple zones, the driver's side airbag should deploy. Of course, the only way to find out is to manually activate one of your driver's side airbag sensors and see if it deploys the bag.

Are you a dumbass? I quote you: Of course, the only way to find out is to manually activate one of your driver's side airbag sensors and see if it deploys the bag. Umm....how fucking stupid are you? You want someone to MANUALLY activate an airbag just to test something out?? Did it EVER occur to you that if you did that, the warranty may be void? Yeah...I can see it now...."Yes Mr. Hyundai dealer...I MANUALLY (*like a dumbass keep in mind*) activated my airbags to test a theory of mine. Could you please put the airbag back to where it is supposed to be?"

What a dumbass you are! Do you test your theory of manually deploying airbags in other vehicles? I don't know if you even know the difference between your butthole and a hole in the ground. Hell....I'm surprised you know how to surf the web.

[FDTT]

^You should be ban.

Motion to ban the troll.

The seatbelt tentioner thing was in effect long before Hyundia put it on there cars. Toyota has been doing it for some time. When they warantee the seatbelts they get to explode them
Fun to watch.

[curbie]

Originally Posted by FDTT

^You should be ban.

Motion to ban the troll.

The seatbelt tentioner thing was in effect long before Hyundia put it on there cars. Toyota has been doing it for some time. When they warantee the seatbelts they get to explode them
Fun to watch.

Why don't you just keep that "ban motion" to yourself. I never once started anything with you.

[C-DUBYA]

That is normal procedure on the tiburons. the passenger side of the 03+ tib has a passenger detection system for the airbag, but in case it is unsure it will blow the air bag as a failsafe. the air bag control module could have registered you didn't need the air bag to deploy since you have pretensioners in the buckles, trust me save yourself some legal expenses and just talk to your service guy about it...it seems odd the way they work but sometimes you really don't need an air bag to deploy and that's what the system does.

[C-DUBYA]

don't worry about your drivers side going off, the module and everything are fried anyways, but your roadside assistance should tow you in. your other airbag will not deploy. until you get a new module.

[Convince]

My girlfriend has a 2003 tib...and when she was going to work one day as she was getting on the highway her passenger seat air bag went off. She didn't hit anything it just wanted to go off for no reason. She just got the car like 3 months before new. She took it to the dealership and they had it for 6 months trying to fix it. And they said that she set it off. But has anyone had this happen to them too. Also we got rear ended and non of the air bags went off after we got the car back

[nisco]

now thats wierd

[danieldench]

So for this six months that the dealer had the car, did they give you a loaner.

Nisco, go fuck yourself you arrogant prick.