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2004 SATURN ION — AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

crash2 injured · 557374 · 2005-10-05

Vehicle

Make
SATURN
Model
ION
Year
2004
Manufacturer
General Motors, LLC
Component
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Miles at failure
15,450
Speed
35 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
2
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

DEAR NHTSA ASSOCIATE, I HAD A 100% PARALLEL, FULL FRONTAL IMPACT, NO ANGLE, AS MY NEW CAR TRAVELING 35 MPH HIT A LARGE DELIVERY VAN TWICE THE WEIGHT OF MY VEHICLE WITH A SQUARE AND STEEL BUMPER THAT WAS STOPPED ( 1 MPH ACCORDING TO POLICE REPORT ). THE FRONT AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND MY NECK AND HEAD WERE IMPACTED ON TO THE STEERING WHEEL EVEN THOUGH I WAS USING MY SEATBELT PROPERLY. THE FORCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO STRAIN THE BELT AND INJURE MY HEAD. I HAD A CUT ON THE TOP OF MY FOREHEAD IN THE MIDDLE, A CONCUSSION, AND I AM CURRENTLY BEING TREATED FOR MIGRAINE TYPE HEADACHES BY A DOCTOR THAT HAVE OCCURRED DAILY SINCE THE ACCIDENT. I PLACED THE CAR INTO THE CARE OF A SATURN OWNED BODY SHOP FOR REPAIR AND ASKED THAT THE AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM BE TESTED FOR FUNCTIONALITY. INSTEAD, I WAS GIVEN A 1-800 NUMBER FOR SATURN CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS TO CALL. THEY SAID THE FIRST STEP WAS TO SEND ME THE AIRBAG MANUFACTURING INFORMATION BOOKLET AND TO CALL BACK AFTER READING IT. I DID SO AND ASKED THAT THE AIRBAGS BE TESTED WHILE IN THE CARE OF THE SATURN BODY SHOP, AS THE TYPE OF IMPACT AND MILES PER HOUR EXCEEDED THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT CONTAINED IN THE MANUAL THEY SENT TO ME. INSTEAD OF GRANTING CLEARANCE TO THE DEALERSHIP TO TEST THE AIRBAGS, IN LIGHT OF MY VALID ARGUMENT OF THEIR DOCUMENTATION CONTRADICTIONS, SATURN CORPORATE INSTEAD ISSUED ME AN INTERNAL "CASE NUMBER" 1-17876541 AND TOLD ME SOMEONE IN THEIR LEGAL DEPARTMENT WOULD CONTACT ME WITHIN 6 TO 8

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10138724
Machine
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