2017 Jeep Renegade - Why didn't airbag go off?

I just had an accident with my car, its under 5000 mi and a few months old. I was pulling into my parking space with my brakes on, and it luched forward and came to stop by a cement beam. My chest hit the steering wheel and my chest hurts really badly, I though the air bag should have deployed. I’ve never had anything like this happen before. Anyone else have issues when they were trying to stop.

No , not in a low speed crash such as this. There are sensors that determine deployment or not. Did you not have your seat belt on?

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I used to work for one of the Big 3 automakers and had numerous initial discussions with customers that were involved in accidents that felt their airbags should have deployed so I have a little experience with how a manufacturer would respond to your question. Air bags are designed as life-saving devices, not to cushion the impact of a minor accident. As volvo_v70 asked “Did you have your seat belt on?”. As cold as it sounds, the fact that you were not more seriously injured is good evidence that the airbag should not have deployed. Of course, you can have the system checked to make sure it’s functional.

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You would likely be in much more pain had it gone off. They are not gentle devices.

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Agree with @VOLVO_V70, @Rainflurry and @texases , the air bag did not go off because it did not have to - to save your life. The air bag will deploy when the car hits a pre determined force of deceleration. If you hit the wall @ 35 mph I am pretty sure the air bags would have deployed.

As others have said ‘did you have your seat belt on’? If you look at the tag on your car and in your owners manual, air bags are usually referred to as SRS, supplemental restraint system, air bags supplement your seat belts. If you are not wearing your seat belt and an air bag deploys you could add to the injury caused by the accident alone.

Please always wear your seat belt, also do not drink and drive, do not text and drive.

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Another purely speculative consideration, the system at that speed may have also not deployed the airbags due to the lack of seat belt use. The system uses an algorithm that looks at speed, g-forces, etc when considering whether to fire the airbags…I wouldn’t be surprised if low speed collisions also take into account whether the seat belts are being used

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A little Darwin in the automotive world?? :smiley:

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I recall reading about dual stage air bags back in the day when it was a new concept. The computer takes into account whether or not seat belts are being used. If they are not, it deploys at lower force to avoid injuring the occupant that is moving forward and colliding with the bag. If the occupant is belted in, the bag will inflate at full force as there is less chance of injuring the occupant that is restrained. That’s why you shouldn’t fake out the belt system by connecting behind you (to silence nagging beep). The computer thinks you’re belted in and smacks you full force with the bag.

Darwin perhaps with the car’s computer thinking: “Schadenfreude” too

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It sounds like you hit the old concrete wall in the parking garage… Ever notice all the different colors of paint on the walls and columns in these places? Apparently they don’t always go off. Also, the car would likely be totalled if the airbag had fired. I guess many components of the system as well as the airbag itself need to be replaced which gets quite expensive.

Assuming you had your seat belt on, the more important issue is why it didn’t lock up. You should definitely have it replaced.

OP hasn’t responded yet…add this thread to the long pile of unanswered questions from the Ask Someone pile…

… for more than one week…
:face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Hope he’s OK!! :slight_smile:

First of all, I always wear my seatbelt. The main point I asked was if anyone had their Jeep lunge forward like that. It’s a safety concern, more than a seat belt at low speeds. For the vehicle to al, of a sudden do that. There was one guy that it happened to and he hit another person, thankfully the person wasn’t severely hurt. I was just trying to get some info for when I take my car in. Not have everyone jump on the band wagon how I must not have been wearing my seatbelt which would not have caused my jeep to lunge forward.

Then you should not have given your question the title you did. The most common cause for what happened is mis-application of the gas instead of the brakes, perhaps partially caused by poor pedal spacing.

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