I need an engineer who has expertise in auto air bag deployment to review this question. So far an Audi technician has given me the follow answer- Dear Audi Expert, In 2006 purchased a used two year old Quatro 100 Audi 2004 from my local Audi dealership. It still had three years left on the original five year warranty and so I acquired that original warranty when I bought the car. The car came with a guarantee that it had been inspected by the Audi mechanics at the dealership and that all systems/parts were in good working order. I had no problems with the car while it was under warranty and so when the initial warranty ran out after a few years I purchased another five year warranty for the Audi for $5,000.00. With that Audi warranty I about broke even financially, there was almost $5,000.00 of work that the Audi needed over that five year period, none of it safety equipment related. The second warranty ran out on the Audi in December 2010. By then the car was due for another warranty but the cost was prohibitive so I did not take out a third warranty. The car ran fine, and throughout the time of my ownership I took good care of the car and only used it for local driving in Fargo, ND and so it had low mileage on the odometer. A very safe car for our lengthy winters here, best car I ever owned! In May 2011 I was hit by a young man running a stop light at high speed. I had the right of way. There was no time for me to hit the brakes, he hit me right in front of the drivers side front fender. My safety belt was on which I am sure saved my life. However the airbag did not deploy even though I was hit dead-on in front of it. The airbag on the passenger side did deploy even though no one was sitting there and I was not even hit on that side. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital with what appeared to be a broken neck. I suffered a major concussion, and three whiplash injuries to the spine with the worst whiplash to the neck, also numerous joint injuries. I spent several days on the local hospital neurology unit and then six months in full time rehabilitation, then for the past four months in rehabilitation part time. I kept the car for evidence in case I need it- that the safety equipment failed re: the airbag. I would like to have an Audi mechanic and/or engineer who would also make for a good expert witness check out why the airbag failed to deploy. How would I find someone like this without spending a great deal of money and bring him in to check why the airbag did not deploy? Depending on his findings, I will need to make a decision whether or not to pursue this with Audi who I am sure will have their own expert mechanics/engineers. What are your thoughts on this, and have their been any ongoing problems with the Audi 04 regarding functional air bag deployment? QuestionCouldn't I use a retired Audi mechanic as an expert/expert witness?Note:the airbag light was not ever on before the accident. There was no indication of a need of repair of any type regarding the seat-belts or the airbag. I brought the Audi in regularly to the dealership mechanics for maintenance. What is a ball and ramp type activation? The angle I was hit at was; that I was hit directly in front of my car on the driver side. Side damage to my Audi was nominal and largely the result of being hit at the front of my car. I have photos of my car after the accident. My car actually hit his as he was speeding through the intersection at high speed ignoring his stop sign. I had the right of way because I did not have a stop sign. I was going the speed limit and had no time to brake before I hit him. I hit him on the drivers side of his vehicle with the damage extending toward and somewhat around to the front. However his drivers side ( just a few feet forward from his own car seat) had the majority of the damage.. I remember he had considerable damage to side of his vehicle. I was hit at the front of my vehicle, drivers side, directly in front of my drivers airbag. My bumper and light were smashed there. I hope this makes sense, I can try to send the police report. How would a mechanic/engineer calculate for that type of hit? In truth the cars had not moved away from each other at different angles upon impact. The hit appeared to be at almost a perfect right angle to each other, me hit on the front drivers side directly in front of my airbag, and him hit on the drivers side of his vehicle. It should not be complicated to adjust for my car being hit directly in the front of it. There is a big dent in my car that travels in a perfect line extending from my front fender toward the driver. It runs straight up to the drivers console directly in front of me. From my vantage point behind the wheel the dent was perfect center in front of me, running straight ahead to my front bumper; that's exactly how the dent runs and it is not twisted or curved in any way.Also,could I hire an expert who is/was an engineer but not an Audi engineer.
I would contact these guys and explain your issue: http://www.nhtsa.gov/ Safety features are heavily regulated by the government and several measures are taken to insure that foreign cars meet them. From an engineering standpoint it is hard to say how much energy your car absorbed from the other. There are simply too many variables, the most important of which is the speed of the collision, which will always be debatable. At any rate, the airbag deploys when a sensor is tripped, whether it be an accelerometer or pressure sensor. It sounds like both of them would have gone off in a collision like you are talking about. Also, if one airbag goes they all go. There is not a system that it particular about what area needs an airbag and what does not. This is similar to sprinkler systems in a skyscraper, if one of them is tripped they all go off. Therefore, every bag should have deployed in your car during the wreck. It sounds like your airbag was defective.
hi bosley! my question today is:
regarding the question I just sent you, here are the links of the study that was done:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Ejection/811435.pdfhttp://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Ejection/811435.pdfhttp://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Ejection/811435.pdfhttp://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Ejection/811435.pdfhttp://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Ejection/RODSS%20Final.xls
I tried to cut and paste the info but because it was on an Excel format it was difficult, hope this makes sense-
please be sure to scroll down to read all the data when you read my previous reply.