Airbag deployment-NEED HELP

I Am Not An Engineer, Or A Lawyer. But if the front of the car took that trailer hitch hit right where one of the airbag deployment sensors was mounted behind the grille...

The concentrated force of the hitch going through the grill and bending the airbag sensor mounts sideways would fool the sensor into thinking the hit was much more severe, and that would blow the bags.

If you were poking along at 5 MPH and someone lost control and hit you head on doing 55, you would want the airbags to deploy. And that's what the sensor thought just happened.

And as a backup if they still try to make it your fault, most modern car computers save a "snapshot" of your driving for 5 to 15 seconds before the crash in memory, a shorter version of the Black Box on airplanes. Speed, throttle and brake inputs, motion velocities, etc. Enough information to prove you were only doing 5 MPH. You have to go to the car maker to dig the info out of the computer.

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What kind of car was he driving? I know on mine it won't arm the bags unless you are traveling above a minimum speed. (20? I can't remeber exactly)

Calvin

Me thinks the officer was correct and the vehicle was likely moving faster. The SRS is set to deploy at 8 MPH. However if more than one sensor is activated and the "Safing" sensor is "Set," by the brake being fully applied the SRS will deploy at any speed.

mike

How will determining the speed of the car make any difference?

Jeff