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2003 TOYOTA AVALON — AIR BAGS

1 injured · 2198790 · 2026-04-20

Vehicle

Make
TOYOTA
Model
AVALON
Year
2003
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Component
AIR BAGS
Speed
75 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
1
Fire
No
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
Yes
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

March 13, 2026, I was on a road trip from CA to AZ and while driving around 75-80mph (speed limit), something in the driver's side seat belt or the shoulder holster exploded, the belt tightened, and something metal or plastic flew off. Shortly after (within 30 seconds or so), the passenger's side seat belt did something similar where something in the seat belt mechanism exploded and another part went flying. There was an electrical buzzing noise. I was looking for a place to pull over when the air bags went off. There was no bump in the road or a dip and I did not hit anything. I don't remember the order the air bags exploded but it was one after the other. The driver's side air bag exploding left a red abrasion on my left hand. The vehicle was brought to a nearby dealership (Anderson Toyota) where they said they could not verify what the issue was. The safety of myself and others on the road were at risk as the explosions were very loud and the air bags occluded my view while traveling at a high speed. The vehicle has been inspected by a 3rd party representative from Bosch (Apr 2nd) as sent by Toyota corporate and Toyota has not given me any updates. Calling them several times they have failed to return calls, and after a call today, they said the case was filed as closed without my prior notice. I do not recall warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms.

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11732589
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown