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Has anyone any experience of an airbag exploding for no reason. A friend of mine has a three year old Clio, still under warranty. While driving along a straight open road his passenger side airbag exploded. It split the seat and pushed it back into the rear seat behind and cracked the seat belt buckle. Renault are being very obstinate despite the car being under warranty and will not do the work which has been estimated at approx. £1300. They maintain that my friend must have had an accident, which he did not. There is no damage on the car whatsoever. He is currently seeing a solicitor and it would be a great help if we could find someone who has had a similar problem. Many thanks in advance.
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I know of a couple of incidents of side airbags going off without an accident.
They appear to have happened where a large stone has hit the sill of the car and then within a very short time bounced off the road and hit the sill again, as the sensors are usually round that position (I don't know the exact possition of the sensors in the new Clio) they think there has been a side impact and do as they should and deploy the airbag.
Most modern cars Airbag ecu can be interigated in great detail to say which sensor told the airbag to deploy at what time etc.
(Glass-Tech)
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Surely it should be easy enough to ascertain whether or not a car has been involved in an accident. Did your friend take the car to his local Renault dealer to get the situation assessed? If so, what did they say?
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You would think! The warranty with the car is with Renault and it was taken to the Renault main dealer. As I said they maintain he must have had an accident. He did not, he was driving on a staight open road. At first Renault were very concerned and apologetic and there was talk that it could have been an electrical fault but then there attitude changed and they said that it could not have gone off without an impact. Their advice was to tell his insurance company he'd had a prang and claim through them. Hobever he did not have a prang and there is no damage on the car. He is now seeing a solicitor who has said he has a very good case, but it would be very helpful if we could find other examples of the same thing happening.
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What a stupid thing for Renault to have said, as any insurance company would immediately get the damage assessed and, if there is no sign of impact damage, would have rejected the claim.
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He can also contact VOSA and they will consider making the manufacturer recall them.
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I believe VOSA will only instigate a recall if there are a sufficient number of reports.
I presume that it's not Renault making the statement about claiming on insurance, but the dealership?
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Whoever is making the statement, it is a non-starter. If Renault or the dealer is claiming it has been in a prang, it should be up to them to provide the evidence.
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Thanks for all your replies, I am still hoping that someone will know of at least one other case. Renault have now asked to see the car again. Maybe it has something to do with a solicitor becoming involved, who knows. I will, however let you know the outcome. Thanks again.
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I am interested in knowing what they find in the way of evidence of a prang. Pleass keep us updated.
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"Renault Clio Exploding Airbag"
Only happens in French cars!
Oui!Merci!
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Two things come to mind:
1) are there any independent witnesses to the accident?
2) what is the position of Renault UK on this?
H
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If you are still exploring this one with the dealer, I found this whilst searching for something else.
www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand....1
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Happened to a friend's C3. Dealer pointed to a nick in the paintwork on the sill and explained that the sensor was in that area, it must have been a stone, now that will be £1000+ please. Also recommended my friend try his insurers as the stone impact is in itself an accident.
My friend told the dealer to stuff his airbag, cut the bag away and has been driving it without a side airbag ever since.
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I understand that, somewhere in the car's computing system, there is a chip which records the conditions at the moment that an airbag is initiated, particularly speed and deceleration. Has your Renault dealer hitched your car up to his analysis machinery to interrogate the chip as to these conditions? That could be revealing ie 45mph and steady speed, for example.
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dunno about anyone else, but I am alarmed at the damage done by the airbag. Thanks goodness no passenger was sitting there!
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Looks like AR-C has found it. If they say an accident then I'd like to know why the drivers bag didn't go off.
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It was a side airbag, different sensors and conditions needed to activate.
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It was a side airbag, different sensors and conditions needed to activate.
[b]his passenger side airbag exploded.[/b]
Hmmm - I read it as the airbag on the passenegers side of the vehicle, not as a side impact one (does the clio have these?).
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I read it as the passenger side airbag at first not the side passenger airbag!
Yes the Clio has both.
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Had a wee browse on that site, no recalls for my Scenic (Yippee!) but found the attached recall. Wording quite good:
"ACTUAL ENGINE SPEED CAN DIFFER FROM SPEED REQUESTED BY THE DRIVER"
www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand....3
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Has anyone any experience of an airbag exploding for no reason. A friend of mine has a three year old Clio, still under warranty. While driving along a straight open road his passenger side airbag exploded.
Did the airbag actually explode or did it just inflate.
--
L\'escargot.
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To be fair MR Snail desciding an airbag inflating as exploding is very apt if you've ever been in the vacinity of one going off.
It is a VERY loud instant bang. And stickly speaking, its an explosion (controlled) that inflates the bag.
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Please forgive my going off on a slight tangent;
What *exactly* defines an explosion?
For example, in the combustion chamber, a normal firing is considered to be a very rapid burning, *not* an explosion.
Is it the presence of a shock wave, and non-linear propagation that defines an explosion?
Is it lack of control that defines an explosion?
Is it something else?
Number_Cruncher
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An explosion is controlled, usually; think of a gun firing or quarry blasting. At another slight tangent, an explosion is defined by the speed of the shockwave being subsonic and a detonation is when the shockwave is supersonic SKAIK
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Thought an explosion was uncontrolled, and a detonation controlled.
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The Army do 'controlled' explosions, to blow the doors off suspect cars or whatever. When a bullet or shell is fired out of a gun it is by an explosion and by defition that is controlled because a human being makes it happen ie pulls the trigger. Pinking in an engine is detonation, that is the noise you hear, and that isn't controlled other than you back off on the throttle and ir change gear. I think we could talk round in circles on this one! An explosion, controlled or otherwise, is when the shock wave or speed of advance of the combustion is subsonic and a detonation, controlled or otherwise, is when the shock wave etc is supersonic.
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A detonation is an explosion that has hired a good PR.
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Doesn't the term "explosion" imply combustion at a very fast rate?
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L\'escargot.
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Yes, at a very fast rate but still subsonic.
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I've had a look in a couple of technical dictionaries and I haven't found any "tight" definition. One dictionary talks about a *rapid* pressure rise in a confined volume.
OK, but a thousand years is considered rapid in geological terms, while a second is a long time in a particle accelerator, or during an impact between cars. The term rapid on its own isn't helpful - rapid compared with what exactly?
I'm "rapidly" coming to the point of view that explosion is a meaningless term. One either has a subsonic combustion with either a laminar or turbulent flame front, as in the combustion chamber of an engine during normal operation or one has detonation with the propagation of a supersonic shock wave.
Number_Cruncher
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For what its worth, my understanding is that there are two inflation mechanisms used for airbag inflation. One is the use of a gas generating explosion (using a low explosive) and the second is the release of compressed gas stored in a bottle.
A low explosive (e.g. gunpowder) is one which explodes by a rapid buring of the explosive material, whereas a high explosive (e.g. TNT) is one which explodes as the result of a detonation wave causing the chemical breakdown of the explosive compound.
BIG
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Detonation is what comes before the explosion i.e.the bomb was detonated.A detonator cap,triggered by electricity or a burning fuse,is inserted into explosive to set it off.The Cambridge dictionary defines 'explode'as 'to burst violently'.Explosions can be supersonic,for example most small arms rounds break the sound barrier,and they are propelled by an explosion.
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I posted several years ago on a Peugot airbag that went off whilst stationary. Do a forum search and you will find a lot of correspondence.
The bottom line was that despite initial denials etc Peugeot ultimately paid a significant sum (personal injury). I think that if you pursue this case (using legal advice) you will ultimately get satisfaction, particularly in light of VOSA link above!
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pmh (was peter)
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Here is a link to a defintive statement on explosions and detonations.
tinyurl.com/djrw6
As a matter of interest the original URL was 948 symbols long so Tiny.url earned its keep today!
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