During our investigation, we examined more than 160 complaints from consumers about their airbags failing to deploy in serious accidents. Those complaints involved the airbags in vehicles made by eight different automakers. We contacted each of those car makers and asked them to respond to the following questions.
Here are the answers we received from Chris Martin, with the public relations department for the American Honda Motor Corporation.
1). What's your message to consumers who have safety concerns with the airbags in one of your vehicles?
Martin: The biggest thing with Honda is our focus on safety. Safety is our one key message point. We want all of our cars to be as safe as possible. There are so many factors involved when it comes to airbags and whether they should deploy in an accident. We hear from a lot of people who feel their airbags should deploy in every front end collision, but they may not need to deploy in those accidents.
Cars are designed to absorb so much of the impact. They may look bad after an accident, but people walked out them just fine. We also want our owners to know there's an airbag (supplemental restraint system - or SRS) warning light that comes on when they start one of our cars. If that light doesn't come on, that's an indication something is wrong with their airbag system and they need to get it checked out immediately.
2). What should consumers do if their airbags fail to deploy during an accident in one of your vehicles?
Martin: Normally, what they should do first is work with their insurance company. That's their advocate. If the insurance company feels the automaker is at fault, there is a process called subrogation where the insurance company comes to us. The insurance company has an interest in finding out who is liable for the accident. They also want to know why the accident happened.
Consumers can also contact Honda's Customer Service Line, but we don't have a methodology where we can absolutely identify the cause -- or tell them why their airbags didn't deploy. That may leave some consumers dissatisfied. We also have booklet that we send to consumers, which explains what types of accidents you can expect an airbag to deploy. Consumers can also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). But if their vehicle was functioning properly, there's not much benefit to contacting that agency. What helps us is when the insurance company investigates an accident and comes and shows us there was a malfunction.
3). Does your company send someone to investigate an accident if an airbag fails to deploy in one of your vehicles?
Martin: In general, we do not. Occasionally, we'll meet with customers involved in unusual accident. We do not do accident investigation, but we will discuss proper airbag deployment.
4). Has your company recalled any vehicles because of problems with the airbags failing to deploy in an accident? If so, which vehicles -- year, make, model?
Martin: No. But we have had some airbag-related recalls because the systems might not deploy correctly. Those recalls are:
• 2000 Accord - Recalled 2,400 of these models because of a manufacturing problem -- a welding issue -- that could cause the airbags to deploy incorrectly;
• 2000 Accord TL - Recalled 380 of these models for that same welding problem.
• 2001 Honda Insight-Hybrid - Recalled 358 of these models for that same welding problem.
• 2005 Odyssey - Recalled 85,000 of these vehicles because of possible corrosion on some of the front airbag impact sensors. If those sensors become corroded, the airbags would not deploy.
