Toyota Corolla Air Bags

injh

I got hit (T boned) by a truck on my (driver’s) side and it was severe. I survived but needed to go to hospital immediately. Thankfully I did not get severe physical injury. My car was declared total by insurance company.
And the most dangerous thing was, my airbag did not open up. It is fatal error and could be devastating to me and my family. This is the first time I needed the air bag to open up and make me feel safe but because of some unknown reasons it did not open. It might be manufacture’s error or the dealer’s who is selling the car and did not check the car properly.
The security of the driver and passengers in a car should be the first concern to all the auto companies. But it seems, Toyota and toyota dealers did not think about it.

irismg

I take it you are referring to a late-model Corolla, because my 1998 model doesn't even HAVE side airbags. Glad you're OK.

backy

Which airbag didn't open up? If you are talking about the front airbag, it would not normally go off on a side impact. If you are talking about a Corolla with side and curtain airbags, then in a crash like you described both of those should have gone off on the side of the impact. If that is the case, you should report the incident to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) so they can investigate.

If you bought the car used, another possibility is that the air bags were previously deployed, but not replaced.

terceltom

A couple of things. First off I assume your sure that your car was equipped with side curtain airbags, right? Secondly, if it wasn't equipped with side curtain airbags the car is not designed to set of the front air bags in the crash your describing as they would not help you in a side impact crash. Thirdly, the dealers do not check airbags before they sell a new car. If it was your transmission that failed you would say it was the dealers fault because they didn't take the trans. apart and check it before they sold the car to you? And lastly, when you say that Toyota does not care about safety for the drivers of their cars, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! Did you ever read the leading consumer magazines to find out that Toyotas are one of the safest cars out there? Glad your okay but really . . . . . .

joshuag

Toyota may have a high safety rating, but occassionaly every car company builds a flop and there might be something really wrong with this car. He is only trying to tell people to be cautious of there own cars, so lay off the poor guy.

terceltom

Obviously he doesn't know how airbags work so it was my intent for his own safety, to let him know for any future accidents he might have. Secondly, being an avid Toyota owner I do get offended when someone who doesn't know any better states that "Toyota doesn't care about there owner's safety" when they are one of the safest cars made and one of the biggest reasons, besides reliability, that they are one of the leading car manufacturers in sales in todays market.

backy

Obviously he doesn't know how airbags work ...

That isn't obvious at all. We still don't know whether his car is equipped with SABs and curtains, or not. If it is, then they should have deployed in a "T-bone" kind of crash as it was described.

joshuag

You don't know what options his car has, it might have the side airbags, and they really might not have deployed. True, Toyota builds a great car, but occasionally they build a bad car. A friend of mine had a Camry that qualified under the California lemon law because of major transmission problems. I'm not saying that every Camry has that issue, but their's did. Just the same, this guy may have a car that has a problem with the airbags.

shortee

How safe is airbags generally when it deploy for someone like me who is 5 feet and weighs about 100 pounds? Cuz i was told that the force of the airbag can kill me if it ever deploys. I have read somewhere on the internet that when airbags where build it was tested on average size men who where about 5' 8" and 180 pounds. (if i remember this face correctly). So airbag was never tested on smaller women who does not meet the the criteria on who they have tested on. Does anyone know anything about this.

mnf

Does anybody think it is a little strange that he/she posted only once with an issue with such high of a priority like this. He/She logged on once posted once then gone i am not suggesting anything but strange it is.

MNF

pat

Well, everyone has to make a first post sometime. He or she may or may not be back, but we can discuss the subject of air bags regardless.

Do you (or does anyone else) have any help for person you answered?

backy

There have been major changes in front airbag design in the past few years. All cars made since 2006 must have "advanced" front air bags (but many 2004 and 2005 cars have them too). Federal testing requires these "advanced" airbags to be safe for an average-sized male and a small woman--which coincidentally means 5 feet tall and 100 pounds--wearing seatbelts in collisions of up to 30 mph. The airbags must also be safe for a small woman who is not wearing a seatbelt in a crash of up to 25 mph.

I found references on the Web to "dual-stage" front airbags on the 2004 and 2005 Corolla. That means Toyota implemented the "advanced" frontal airbag design early, so it looks like any Corolla sold in the U.S. from model year 2004 and later has the advanced design. You can confirm that by looking in your owner's manual (there should be a section on the airbags, or even a separate booklet on them), or by contacting Toyota.

If you have a Corolla made before the 2004 model year, then that could be a problem in being safe for someone who is 5 feet and 100 pounds.

There's a good article on Edmunds.com (link below) that goes into more detail on airbag design. There's other articles also that you might find useful; one easy way to find them is to google "air bag small adult" or similar search criteria.

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/45863/article.html

shortee

Thanks for this information it is helpful to me. i have an 09 corolla so i think i should be fine in keeping my airbag on. Thank you again

terceltom

Okay backy! So let me clarify, if his/her car is equipped with only front airbags then "obviously he/she doesn't know how airbags work". Do you agree the that the dealer should have tested his/her airbags before the sale? And do you also agree that Toyota doesn't give a hoot about safety?

backy

I think my post was clear. Let's see if the original poster returns to give us more information.

Of course the dealer should not have tested the airbags before the sale. And I don't agree that Toyota doesn't care about safety. It appears the person who said those things was very upset about the accident they were in. People in that situtation don't always have the most objective view. But that is no excuse for others to make assumptions about what they know or don't know about airbags with the limited information we have.

mnf

Not with out more information from the poster on the model year and was it equipped with was front and or side airbags then which ones did not open up.

MNF

shortee

What i have is an 09 corolla with side and front airbag. None of my airbag have deployed on me yet. it was just a generally question about airbag and how safe it is for a woman who is 5' and 100 pound. Backy gave me a pretty good article on airbags in his/her respond. But if u have any other information please let me know.
Thanks

terceltom

Actually, the response from mnf was in regard to the 1st post in this topic and forum by injh. We're all wondering what year Corolla injh has and if he/she indeed does have side curtain airbags?

pat

...is that we can talk about Corolla air bags in general in this topic, which is what shortee is attempting to do.

It's clear that we need more information to understand and respond to the initial poster's situation. Let's leave that alone until or unless we get answers to some of our questions and let the topic expand beyond that post.