Airbag/On-Star triggers?

[CB89]

Does anyone happen to know what it takes to deploy airbags and or trigger an on star response or where the sensors are located.

I'm asking because i hit a deer last night at ~60 Mph and looking at more than likely a totaled lt2 sonic. But neither the airbags nor an on star response was triggered. My front end ( windshield distance to bumper ) is roughly 1/2 its normal size, car is not driveable with most damage sustained in center front and drivers front with moderate damage on drivers side also.

I'm concerned because my airbags were recently worked on in the recall and the officers on scene said i should contact the shop/chevy for possible defects in both systems.


Wish me luck first thing in the morning as i try to get them to not total it because i love the car.

 

[SonicMan]

It may be totaled whether you want it to be or not and as long as you have good insurance and also gap insurance you will be fine, you may have to go get a new sonic ! About the air bags, that's crazy because there is a Lingenfelter Cadillac CTS-V that launches so hard on take off that on star calls and makes sure they are okay, it has to do with what they did on the recall, maybe they forgot a step while installing ? That's not a good look for Chevy to have a car get damaged as bad as you say it did w/o the air bag deploying

 

[Lovehanayo]

It may be totaled whether you want it to be or not and as long as you have good insurance and also gap insurance you will be fine, you may have to go get a new sonic ! About the air bags, that's crazy because there is a Lingenfelter Cadillac CTS-V that launches so hard on take off that on star calls and makes sure they are okay, it has to do with what they did on the recall, maybe they forgot a step while installing ? That's not a good look for Chevy to have a car get damaged as bad as you say it did w/o the air bag deploying

I agree with this guy and let it get totaled. You can get another sonic. Trust me, cars that have been wrecked don't drive the same after. I had more problems with my Saturn Astra after my bf wrecked it, than before the incident and all the problems started happening right before my extended warranty was up. I ended up trading that car in for this one.

 

[nocoolnames]

They work based on how quickly they are decelerated so it possible they didn't deploy because the deer moved with you and had a slower deceleration. It's also possibly a tech disabled the system to work on it and forgot to re enable it. That said from the accidents I've seen in EMS most but not all vehicles have the airbags deployed with the damage you are describing.

 

[RS Turbo]

If the airbags did not deploy it probably will not be totaled! When airbags deploy if Onstar account is active it will send a call the the Onstar center.

Airbags are designed to work on a rapid Deceleration rate , not on an impact/crush of any sensors. A deer is not a stationary item or was not heavy enought to slow the vehicle down at a fast enough rate. Especially if you where on your brakes hard when you hit the deer, Also there is a 30 degree angle from the center of the vehicle the major impact needs to be in. If the deer grazed the corner of the vehicle on first part of the impact the energy of the was mostly absorbed at an angle that is designed to absorb energy, the deers weight was defected now somewhat forward before it coming to the center of the vehicle.

 

[CB89]

Thanks for the information.

Thus far i have called On Star with the response that my vehicle diagnostics says my car is still in 100% working condition... Wish that was true.

Shop it was worked on said it would look into the work that was done but none of the work should have impacted the mechanisms.

Chevy is looking into the case as well. Hopefully if there is a defect it is found and all of the still running sonics can be fixed so that it'll work properly. If it was just a case of maybe didn't meet the requirements for deployment, which i add is highly unlikely given the amount of crushing and parts destroyed, then itll just be an oops.

My temporary car should arrive soon, most likely a cruze... i feel cramped in the cruze =(

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Does anyone happen to know what it takes to deploy airbags and or trigger an on star response or where the sensors are located.

I'm asking because i hit a deer last night at ~60 Mph and looking at more than likely a totaled lt2 sonic. But neither the airbags nor an on star response was triggered. My front end ( windshield distance to bumper ) is roughly 1/2 its normal size, car is not driveable with most damage sustained in center front and drivers front with moderate damage on drivers side also.

I'm concerned because my airbags were recently worked on in the recall and the officers on scene said i should contact the shop/chevy for possible defects in both systems.


Wish me luck first thing in the morning as i try to get them to not total it because i love the car.

I'm sorry to hear about the dear accident. I hope you're doing well despite the issue. Keep us posted on the status.

Matt,

GM Customer Assistance

 

[RS Turbo]

Do you have pics of the damage?

 

[Eric Smit]

Agreed. pics please.

also, my buddy did a similar thing; hit a deer going 80 on I10. His truck had a prerunner bumper and smashed that all to hell, but his truck was mechanically fine. No airbags. Scared him so bad he didn't even realize the airbags didn't go off until I asked him about his airbags.


-Eric Smit

 

[laborsmith]

Thus far i have called On Star with the response that my vehicle diagnostics says my car is still in 100% working condition.

In case there remains a question, this is an example of why I remain such a staunch advocate of OnStar.

Laborsmith

 

[RS Turbo]

most damage sustained in center front and drivers front with moderate damage on drivers side also


This is the damage you claim you had.

It is very probable the airbags did not go off,

Damage includes on drivers side. Sounds like most of the impact was not in the correct zone to have airbags deploy.

Onstar reports there are no issues with the airbag system and it is active.

 

[gsxr1000]

Thanks for the information.

Thus far i have called On Star with the response that my vehicle diagnostics says my car is still in 100% working condition... Wish that was true.

Shop it was worked on said it would look into the work that was done but none of the work should have impacted the mechanisms.

Chevy is looking into the case as well. Hopefully if there is a defect it is found and all of the still running sonics can be fixed so that it'll work properly. If it was just a case of maybe didn't meet the requirements for deployment, which i add is highly unlikely given the amount of crushing and parts destroyed, then itll just be an oops.

My temporary car should arrive soon, most likely a cruze... i feel cramped in the cruze =(

are you saying the mechinacal like drive train went unharmend? if so then that make a case for no air bag deployment.. the sensor is located behind your bumpuer crash bar somewhere and if your fram didn't get bent much the hit wasn't that "hard" and the sheetmetal damage is easy do to with most any impact and the deer is soft so it prolly rolled over the top of the hood dioing more damage but less frame and less deacceelerating.

 

[sonic007]

Yea typically for the airbags to deploy it has to hit certain sensors on the front of the car...also they will total it typically if the damage is more than 70% of the cars resale value. If the frames bent or anything engine wise messed up id start lookin for a new sonic..lol..hopefully u have gap insurance

 

[sx sonic]

air bags are triggered by 1. An impact/crash sensor and. 2. By a deceleration sensor (which requires a certain amount of decel to be detected as others have mentioned). Must both be truggered for the airbags to be deployed.

Other members have commented on possible situations why the airbags failed to deploy, with out seeing the damage it is hard to gauge if they should have deployed. Based on what you said they should have.

Glad your ok, and hope you get a new sonic (body shop cars=no fun later on). Hopefully GM can also give you a good reason why nothing happened if for nothin else some pcs of mind

-tyler

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Does anyone happen to know what it takes to deploy airbags and or trigger an on star response or where the sensors are located.

I'm asking because i hit a deer last night at ~60 Mph and looking at more than likely a totaled lt2 sonic. But neither the airbags nor an on star response was triggered. My front end ( windshield distance to bumper ) is roughly 1/2 its normal size, car is not driveable with most damage sustained in center front and drivers front with moderate damage on drivers side also.

I'm concerned because my airbags were recently worked on in the recall and the officers on scene said i should contact the shop/chevy for possible defects in both systems.


Wish me luck first thing in the morning as i try to get them to not total it because i love the car.

Luckily, no one was injured. CB89, when this happens it's GM Policy to document the incident and establish a Product Allegations Request (PAR). Please private message me your full name, the last 8-digits of your VIN, current mileage, date of incident and your involved dealership' name.

Vanessa
GM Customer Service

 

[SonicMan]

I don't care what you hit whether it was a dear or a bird but to have your car smashed in as bad as you say it is then those airbags should have deployed end of story !