# Collision but no airbag deployment



## TinaC (30 d ago)

I was in an accident in my 2020 Model Y a couple of days ago. Another driver driving east as I was driving west turned left in front of me. I was using FSD at 80 kms per hour. I turned the wheel at applied the brake to try to avoid the collision but it couldn’t be avoided. Oddly, my airbag did not deploy. I didn’t hit my head but the severe whiplash is too real. Anyone have any experience with Tesla collisions and have any idea why the airbag would not have deployed at this speed? Thanks


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

Where was the collision?


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## TinaC (30 d ago)

iChris93 said:


> Where was the collision?


Front right


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## TinaC (30 d ago)

TinaC said:


> Front right
> View attachment 46023


It took off the wheel all together


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Easy answer: You weren't going fast enough at the time of impact.


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## TinaC (30 d ago)

JasonF said:


> Easy answer: You weren't going fast enough at the time of impact.


Everything I have read said it should deploy at as little as 16 miles per hour. I was going above 50


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## Klaus-rf (Mar 6, 2019)

You can have the collision repair shop, or the service center, download the air bag computer data.


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## TinaC (30 d ago)

Klaus-rf said:


> You can have the collision repair shop, or the service center, download the air bag computer data.


Thank you.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

TinaC said:


> Everything I have read said it should deploy at as little as 16 miles per hour. I was going above 50


I did say it was the easy answer! If you hit the brakes at all you might have been close to the threshold, but if you hit the other car full-on without braking that's different.


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## bwilson4web (Mar 4, 2019)

I hope you had a USB stick recording the video, This and others are cases when I wish the engineering metrics were recorded with the video, Having X, Y, and Z axis G force readings would be very helpful.

BTW, I had a curb impact that did not set off the air bags. I had to replace the passenger side wheels and wheel bearings. Yet the airbags did not deploy .... hummmmm.

A closeup of the passenger side wheel shows it was badly bent along with the front quarter panel loss. This is the type of accident that should be reported to the NHTSA but I suspect you are Canadian. Sometimes USA safety departments are not good about taking reports from non-USA citizens.

I have a dash camera with metrics that I have been thinking about mounting in the cabin on the driver seat by the head restraint. Forward facing, it would also document some of the intermittent display actions along with metrics. Sad to say, the camera records the data in the video so it can not be easily extracted.

Anyone recommend a dash cam that records the metrics as a separate, CSV-style log? Some of the tuning apps do a great job but I don't want to have a steal-able electronic device too readily visible,

Bob Wilson


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

TinaC said:


> I didn’t hit my head but the severe whiplash is too real. Anyone have any experience with Tesla collisions and have any idea why the airbag would not have deployed at this speed?


From the picture, it looks like a glancing blow - maybe a 10% overlap. I don't think the airbags are supposed to go off in such a scenario.

I was just involved in an accident in my Tesla. The side of my car slammed pretty hard into the median, enough to break the rear suspension and total my car. I think I was knocked out for a split second, and I had mild concussion symptoms over the next few days. My hip was sore from being thrown into the A-pillar right into my wallet. But the side airbag didn't go off.

One thing to remember about airbags - they are NOT soft. Hitting an airbag is like getting punched in the face. If the airbags are going off, then the car has decided that it's safer for you to get punched in the face than letting your face punch the steering wheel. They inflate very quickly from an explosive force.

*Whiplash is preferable.*

Now, this is from some random lawfirm on the internet, so take this with a grain of salt:








Can Airbags Cause Injuries in a Car Accident?


When deployed correctly, airbags provide crucial cushioning for drivers and passengers during a crash and can reduce the risk of serious injuries




www.spadalawgroup.com






> "Face – Your face is one of the first parts of the body to come in contact with the airbag and has the momentum to be impacted the hardest. The main purpose of the frontal airbag is to prevent your face and head from colliding with your dashboard or windshield. While your airbag may succeed in preventing this, your face may be struck with the force of the airbag. *The force of the airbag being deployed can damage your jaw, nose and eyes. Broken bones in the face and permanent scarring can be the result of airbag deployment. In some cases, eye injuries were severe enough to result in temporary or permanent blindness*."


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## android04 (Sep 20, 2017)

Airbags are not supposed to just always set off by default in an accident. There is a computer in each car that decides whether to set them off and which specific ones to set off based on a lot of different sensors and factors. If you ended up being fine or with minor injuries, then the computer likely calculated and decided correctly.


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## TinaC (30 d ago)

android04 said:


> Airbags are not supposed to just always set off by default in an accident. There is a computer in each car that decides whether to set them off and which specific ones to set off based on a lot of different sensors and factors. If you ended up being fine or with minor injuries, then the computer likely calculated and decided correctly.


Thank you for responding.


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