I called acura to ask about the discharge. The guy on the phone was very carefull. He said that if the insurance adjuster feels that there was a defect in the airbags, that they are to call Acura to further an investigation. I wasn't going very fast, but I assume the guy that ran the light was going fairly quick.

 

Also, I don't know if the car is totaled at this point. I assume it will not be concidering that it only has 6,000 miles on it. Makes me sad. I really loved that car.

 

Dosent matter how many miles are on it...I would guess thats going to be a total...

 

I've seen worse that wasn't a total...but here's hoping that it is! Time to get a new one...

 

Well, if it's not, I will be out of a car for quite a while. We don't have enough people that work on cars down here anymore. Body shops are booked up for months. A friend of mine just got in a wreck a few months ago and it took nine weeks for the police report to be processed, and another two months for the truck to get fixed, and they didn't do a good job. The tow truck towed the TSX to the dealership (the only one in New Orleans) and they had a nearby body shop pick it up. So now it's sitting there, waiting for the insurance adjuster. Who knows how long that will be. I really want to get to the bottom of this airbag issue though.

 

My Pathfinder Airbags went off and it does smell like gun powder. Most likely your airbag didn't deploy but it did set it off.

We had a 2003 Altima that was slammed by a Tahoe at 55mph and she was stopped. It almost totalled the car but the airbags did not go off. She was rear-ended as well.

 

I think the sensors for the airbag are in the front, not the rear. So if you get rearended, the airbag won't deploy.

 

Wouldn't that be clasified as a defect? If the airbags discharged but did not deploy? After the accident, while we were waiting for the tow truck, we turned the key to check the airbag light and it came on and went off like always. I wonder if the airbags need to be replaced because the charge is spent.

 

I have read now that maybe it was the seat belt pretensioner that made the smoke and the smell?? BUT I do destinctly remember the smoke coming from the left hand side of the steering wheel.

 

I don't know but by looking at that front end damage you'd think the Air bags would have gone off regardless of where you were hit.

 

Sorry about the accident.

Did you take a picture of the interior after the accident ?
It'd be so easy to answer your question with that pic.

 

no I didn't get shots of the interior. BUT the B pillar lining was pulled away from the 'wall' about four inches. I didn't think to look above the B pillar to see if the headliner was pulled out as I see in another poster's picture.

 

Thank goodness you survived!

Let's hope that you can replace the car. The quality of body shops vary a great deal. Even the very best cannot match the precision of car factory floor.

One of the first things car dealers do when you bring in a car for trade or sale is look for prior collision damage--a big red flag no matter the quality of repairs.

It's not my intention to be mean, but it's just to shed a little light on issues to consider...

I wonder who will be determined to be liable? Yes, the red-light runner-speeder is wrong, but the "runner's" side could argue contributory negligence. That is, they might question whether or not you safely and surely looked both ways before entering the intersection, and if you did look, why didn't you see the red-light runner? A green light "the right-of-way" doesn't excuse anyone from the basic safety rules of looking left and right before entering the intersection and proceeding only when safe. Some statutes or laws are so precise that if you didn't look a 2nd time while IN the intersection that you could be at fault.

Let's hope you all work this out.

 

To see if the airbags deployed put the key in the ignition setting. See if the airbag light comes and and check to see if it goes off. If it goes off then the airbags did not deploy at all. If it says on then they did deploy.

Looking at your car more closely since you didnt have a direct front hit. Seems like you just clipped the guy and he tore off your bumper cover and other things. The airbags didnt deploy because there was insuffient impact to the front of the car.

I have no idea where that gun powder smell is coming from.

 

The guy that hit me was drunk and traveling about 35 miles an hour, I did look before I entered the intersection, he wasn't there yet. His lane was empty until he blew through. The guy had a back seat full of beer and he managed to spill his drink all over himself on impact. He got a ticket. I am not at fault. As far as the impact - the seat belt locked, and the hood buckled, I hit the guy hard. and he dragged me about 30 feet and spun me around. His car's driver door was smashed in and peeled up on the left front corner. I will post more 'on the scene' pics.

 

 

wow thats insane, I didnt know he was literally drinking and driving.

All he got was a ticket?? He didnt get arrested at the scene??

 

Sorry to hear what happened. I'm glad you are OK

I couldn't help but notice the imprint of his rim on what is left of your bumper. Is right smack in the center. Looking at the picture of his car, I would have thought that the center of the impact was further back...

 

no - Remember. I live in New Orleans. Once I smelled this guy, I called 911 back and let them know that I concidered this guy a flight risk because he was clearly drunk. The police took nearly 2 hours to show, and by that time he was able to walk to a nearby gas station and buy a juice, a coffee and pour water on the beer that was on his pants. He also bought airfreshner which he sprayed himself and his car with. I know he bought the air freshener because he had it in his back pocket. Once the police came, I asked them if they were going to give him a breathelizer test, but they said that he didn't smell and he wasn't slurring his speech so they didn't find it neccessary. The guy did admit fault to running the red, and personally I think that the police just didn't want to deal with bringing this guy in. I have a shot of the guy too - clearly drunk, but I dont feel that I can post that.

 

glad you are ok.
that smell is mostlikely coming from the seat belt pre-tensioners (they also use powder). it seems he only clipped the plastics/chrome and some hood. If you were not driving that fast probably the desceleration-sensors didn't go off ( that explains the airbag light still checking on/off). anyway have it checked up.

 

Well I am glad to hear that wrecked in new orleans and 21 are both ok. You just never know whats going to happen. I noticed earlier this weak that the Side Airbag indicator shows that it is OFF!!! I was going to wait until my first oilchange to have them fix it, but reading these posts, made me schedule an appt at Ramsey Acura NEXT WEEK Tuesday, which was the first day available. You can't procrastinate with you life or the safety of it, so why wait till tomorrow for something I can take care of today. Thankyou guys for giving me the motivation to get my s*7% together!!!

 

Yeah, I don't think that I ever hit the brakes in the accident. My car is a 6spd manual, and I know that my first instinct is to push the clutch in before braking.

 

hmm.. hitting the brakes alone wont deploy the airbags -imagine if that were true!- we're talking of G's of desceleration in fractions of a second. the other thing is it seems that it was a tangential wreck (sort of) since you spinned (?), so the the airbag system algorithm probably didn't reach a trigger point. The fact that you are OK says it all. I don't think you have a case against Acura IMO.

 

well you'd have to hit him pretty hard, enough for the front impact sensors to detect a head-on collison for the front airbags to deploy. looking at my helms, the 2 front impact sensors are right below the headlights behind the inner fender.
looks like the front absobers took the brunt of the damage seeing how the radiator folded back, so it may not have enough force to trigger the front sensors (to the either side of the absobers). get the shop to pull the diagnostic code, if any, and see what they say.

btw, how did your rear windshield get a hole??

 

Here is a few pics of our Altima that got hit by a lifted tahoe that didn't even get damaged.







Guy was going about 60+ per the marks. She was coasting around 10 mph or so when he hit her because of traffic.

Here is my pathfinder. Impact at 65 mph, no brakes (came over a hill and everyone was dead stop on the highway due to a idiot in a car went across all 5 lanes to exit. I hit a Cavalier that was totalled. Whole back end of her car was into the back seat.

Surprisingly the Frame wasn't bent at all on the Pathy. 15k of damage.

 

Glad to hear that you are fine(well all of you that have posted with your stories of the accidents you have been in, especially 21 in az). Like everyone said, life is one of the most precious things we have in this world, next to family, and that we should not take it for granted. It just go's to show that even though you may be one of the safest drivers on the road, others may not be! Take care everyone.

 

glad to hear you're ok.....the cops are a bunch of dicks for not arresting that guy. he could have killed you and another dozen people by drinking and driving.

 

I just have heard that the adjuster is out looking at the damage. I guess I will find out soon the verdict. In the meantime - I am SUFFERING WITHOUT A CAR!!! Stinks. Not my fault, and I am the one that is out of transportation.

 

Just got initial estimate from insurance adjuster. Laughable. $7574.58.
The body shop should have a good time with that one. How frustrating.

 

Why dont you have a rental? The other parties insurance company (if he was liable) should give you a rental asap. If not then go through your insurance company.

 

I am picking up a rental tomorrow morning. My insurance claim person set it up today. I plan on making the guy that hit me's insurance pay for any out of pocket expenses and the deductable that I am paying on my insurance now. His insurance won't do anything until the police report is in, and that could be a while here in New Orleans. My insurance is covering the accident in the meantime.

 

Glad you are ok. Sorry about the accident

 

so did the guy's insurance company end up paying? i hope so.

 

15months later, I hope he's okay.

 

:Zombiedrug:

 

glad to hear you are ok...