nexus617a4

Does anybody have any information about the deployment threshold for the airbags, specifically the driver's front airbag? I've searched the entire site, but cannot find any information, such as the minimum speed at which the airbags deploy.

Some idiot made an illegal turn and crashed into my A4. Now his insurance company is saying I was speeding (which I was not!). Since the airbags didn't deploy, I'm hoping to use this as proof that I was not travelling at an excessive speed.

Help please!

CEB

...at which airbags deploy. The deployment depends on speed, type of impact, angle of impact and other factors.

It sounds as if you walked away unharmed, so there was no need for the airbags to deploy.

In an accident such as this, you should have called the cops and they would have determined if excessive speed was a factor....

user 7208203

(read the article at the link below)
Air bags are triggered by accelerometers. They measure the deceleration of your car. So speed has nothing to do with it. It is how quickly you stop. Example, I could be going 35 and crash into tall grass which would stop me over lets say 50 feet. Or I could be driving 35 and crash into a brick wall which may stop me in 6 inches or so.

These sensors are all over the car, and by comparing readings from different ones, severity and angle can be determined.

Accident investigators would look at things like initial trajectory of the cars, point of impact. Final resting point of the cars. Skid marks and length. Location of broken glass and how much each car crumpled. Police have software for this type of thing.<ul><li><a href="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/airbag.htm">http://auto.howstuffworks.com/airbag.htm</a</li></ul>

Colin@PES-Tuning

AoA,VWoA do not divulge this info to anyone!!!! There standard answer is "the airbag system will deploy when the proper criteria are met" And there is no info available as to what the "proper criteria" are as well. When I was at a dealer as an employee one of my customers went thru this and got absolutely no where....

just FYI most japanese car are scheduled to deploy at a deceleration rate of 13g's so that would require a stationary immovable object impact at a good speed....
AoA,VWoA keep this info very close to the vest
good luck...
P.S. if he turned in front of you, thus interupting your direction of travel doesn't the fault lie with him???? Did he recieve a ticket???

nexus617a4

Yes, the primary fault does lie with him. But his insurance company is claiming that I was speeding, and thus I should share the blame, and thus the cost of repairs. I'm trying to find empirical proof that I was indeed travelling at around 25 mph, not the 35+ they are claiming.

And no, the cops didn't issue any citations.

Clemenscc3@yahoo.com

I HAVE THE SAME QUESTION
Except an UNINSURED Driver hit my 2014 Audi Q5 Mileage: 71,237 and TOTALED IT!! She hit me trying to pass me by accelerating to a great speed to pas me , while I'm in the middle of a turn. I GOT CITED, BUT COULD GET MY CAR (PAID) & GET THIS CITATION DISMISSED if I knew at what speed must a driver hit you to deploy SIDE PASSENGER AIRBAGS? (ANY) SPEED OR IS THEIR A THRESHOLD?

​​​​​​I have to be in COURT TOMMOROW? PLEASE HELP!!

lyleswk

I went through something similar but not related to contention on fault, but just out of my engineering mind's curiosity with a Mercedes. Car was destroyed with 400 miles on it due to a 3/4 ton pickup pulling in front of me, but I was amazed that the airbags didn't deploy. All I got from Mercedes was it's proprietary, but considers primarily decel rate (g's) and vehicle's ability to absorb damage and not vehicle's visual damage as they don't want the occupants to be injured by the airbag. In my case, I had no injuries which amazed the police and EMT that showed up. After finding a rental, I pressed on with my trip to help my son move into college. Won't mention it was a loaner from Mercedes dealer since my car was in the shop; wait just did. Will say, i think only the Europeans fine tune the SRS systems.

Oh, and insurance companies are scammers and you will need to keep fighting. I would ask them what info they have on SRS deployment to which they will respond with silence.

AudiAllTheWay

I like that answer! Turn the burden of proof back onto the opposing insurance company. Tell them Audi does not publicly provide airbag deployment design data but surely as an insurance company they can access this information… right?

Bottom line defence is your bags did not go off so your g force deceleration impact was not high enough to trigger deployment. If you were speeding which insinuates higher impact speed aka increased rate of g force deceleration then your airbag would have deployed.