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2006 TOYOTA SIENNA — AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

crash1 injured · 724718 · 2009-06-23

Vehicle

Make
TOYOTA
Model
SIENNA
Year
2006
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Component
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Miles at failure
40,000
Speed
40 mph

Severity

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

Narrative

2006 TOYOTA SIENNA - 40,000 MILES. INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL IMPACT WITH A TREE FROM A PEAK VELOCITY OF 40-45 MPH TO AN ESTIMATED IMPACT SPEED OF 20-25 MPH. THE VEHICLE HIT SQUARE IN HOOD CENTER, DEFORMING EVERYTHING BACKWARD SYMMETRICALLY 1-1.5 FEET. INSURANCE COMPANY CLASSIFIED VEHICLE AS A TOTAL LOSS (DAMAGE > $16,000). DRIVER SUFFERED MULTIPLE LEFT ARM INJURIES INCLUDING WRIST DISLOCATION AND FRACTURED FOREARM BONES - RESULTING BECAUSE AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED. I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS FOR A WEEK AND THEIR EXPLANATION AT FIRST WAS THAT THE IMPACT SPEED WAS NOT GREAT ENOUGH TO DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS. AFTER VIEWING THE PICTURES, THEY CHANGED THEIR POSITION TO STATE THAT BECAUSE IT WAS A CONCENTRATED IMPACT NOT CENTERED ABOUT THE IMPACT SENSOR, AND NOT AN EVENLY DISTRIBUTED LOAD IMPACT, THE SENSORS WOULD NOT HAVE DEPLOYED. UNACCEPTABLE. I ASKED THE CS REP IF WE HAD HIT THE TREE IN THE EXACT SAME SPOT AT 100 MPH, WOULD THE AIRBAG HAVE DEPLOYED AND HER ANSWER WAS 'THEORETICALLY NO'. WHETHER THIS LACK OF DEPLOYMENT WAS BY DESIGN OR NOT, I FEEL THIS IS A HORRIFIC IMPACT PROTECTION PHILOSOPHY. NONE OF US WOULD CHOOSE TO BE IN AN ACCIDENT, AND CERTAINLY NONE OF US ARE GOING TO HAVE CONTROL OVER WHEN AND WHERE AND HOW FAST AND AT WHAT ANGLE WE WILL MAKE IMPACT. THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF AN ACCIDENT. I GUESS I AM INQUIRING ABOUT THE LEGITIMACY OF THIS EXPLANATION TO ME BY TOYOTA, AND ALSO ABOUT THE REGULATIONS FOR IMPACT SENSOR DEPLOYMENT. W

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10274731
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown