NHTSA complaint: 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA — AIR BAGS
MY HUSBAND AND I WERE DRIVING HOME ON A SNOWY NIGHT WHEN OUR CAR SLIPPED AND SLID DOWN AN EMBANKMENT ALMOST INTO A RIVER. LUCKILY, OUR CAR WAS STOPPED BY A LARGE BOULDER RIGHT AT THE WATERS EDGE. UNBEKNOWNST TO US AT THE TIME, WE HAD STOPPED COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WATER HOWEVER WE WERE NOT SURE BECAUSE EVERY AIRBAG IN OUR CAR DEPLOYED, COVERING ALL OF THE WINDOWS. IMMEDIATELY AFTER WE HIT THE BOULDER, WE TRIED RELENTLESSLY TO GET OUT OF BOTH FRONT DOORS AS WELL AS THE BACK DOOR, HOWEVER WE WERE UNABLE TO GET TO THE DOOR HANDLES BECAUSE THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEFLATE AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. AT THAT POINT, MY HUSBAND WAS ABLE TO RIP THROUGH HIS FRONT DOOR AIRBAG TO REACH THE HANDLE AND GET BOTH OF US OUT OF THE CAR SAFELY. MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THAT IF WE HAD ENDED UP IN THE RIVER WE WOULD HAVE DROWNED DUE TO MALFUNCTIONING AIRBAGS. *TR
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation