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2003 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT — AIR BAGS

1 injured · 470964 · 2004-01-15

Vehicle

Make
VOLKSWAGEN
Model
PASSAT
Year
2003
Manufacturer
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Component
AIR BAGS

Severity

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

Narrative

FOLLOWING IS NHTSA COMPLAINT: MAKE: VOLKSWAGEN MODEL: PASSAT YEAR : 2003 CRASH : NO FIRE : NO NUMBER OF INJURIES: 1 ODI ID NUMBER: 10023337 DATE OF FAILURE: JANUARY 18, 2003 COMPONENT: AIR BAGS DETAILS: THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEAD AIRBAG (AIR CURTAIN) OF A 2003 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT W8 SEDAN DEPLOYED SPONTANEOUSLY WHILE I WAS DRIVING THE CAR. A FEW MINUTES LATER, WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED, THE STEERING WHEEL AIRBAG DEPLOYED SPONTANEOUSLY. I SUFFERED A PERMANENT WRIST INJURY AND AM SUFFERING FROM POST TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME. THE INCIDENT, WHICH HAPPENED DURING A TEST DRIVE, WAS REPORTED TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE VW DEALERSHIP FOR WHICH I WAS WORKING AND TO VW OF AMERICA BY THE MANAGEMENT. I SENT A DETAILED INCIDENT REPORT TO BOTH VWOA AND VWAG (GERMANY) CEO'S. A VW CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE ADMONISHED ME TO NOT MAKE A FUSS ABOUT THE INCIDENT, SAYING IT WAS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OCCURRENCE AND ADVISED ME THAT MY LETTER TO THE VWOA CEO HAD BEEN RECEIVED BUT THAT HE HAD NOT READ IT. THE OWNER OF THE DEALERSHIP ADVISED ME IN A SPECIAL MEETING THAT HE HAD BEEN CONTACTED BY A VWOA MANAGEMENT REPRESENTATIVE WHO WAS UNHAPPY WITH THE COMPLAINTS I HAD MADE TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT THE LACK OF FOLLOW-UP BY VW AND THE MEANS OF ALERTING VW OWNERS ABOUT THE INCIDENT I WAS CONSIDERING. I LEFT THE MEETING BELIEVING MY JOB AND FUTURE IN THE CAR BUSINESS, AT LEAST SELLING VW PRODUCTS, WOULD BE IN JEOPARDY IF I TOOK ANY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SUCH AS FILING THIS COMPLAIN

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10070705
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown