NGC - 2 cars, 3 crashes, airbags never deployed?

[brider]

I have 2 college-age kids in the house that have BOTH wrecked the same car, 2014 KIA Optima, within a 1-yr timespan. After the first wreck I had the car fixed good-as-new, then the other kid re-wrecked it. First crash was a rear-ender with my daughter driving, demolished the front, cracked the passenger windshield, but NO airbag deployment.

Second crash was my son delivering Doordash (against my knowlwdge) and he ran a red light and clipped the rear of a car going thru on a green light. Demolished the front end AGAIN, and again NO AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT.

After the 2nd crash I brought the still-driveable car home and parked it with a tarp over it (somehow the rad didn't get punctured and steerability was unaffected), but it needs an entire front clip & structural crossbeam to consider driving it.

Needing a car and reluctant to fix the KIA a 2nd time, I bought a used 2012 Volvo XC70, and then promptly crashed it MYSELF turning left in front of an oncoming car at an intersection...spee ds ~35-40 mph...night....abso lutely no recollection of seeing the oncoming car (THAT'S scary!), NO AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. Other car (20-yr-old Jeep) deployed it's 2 airbags.

Is it just MY cars that the airbags refuse to deploy in? Are the airbag systems so refined that they indeed may not deploy if certain conditions are not met?

There were no injuries in any of the crashes but I've been tempted in all 3 cases to contact the manufacturers and ask WTF?

So now I have (2) wrecked cars about the same vintage and need to figure out what to do with them. Bad luck really came in bunches to our house (driving-wise), but they were all our fault so I don't know what to think now.

[n3303j]

Maybe you should look for something that is "self driving".
It couldn't do much worse. 

[RinkRat II]

   Wow! Glad you're all OK. Even if it costs a couple hundred bucks and you know of a very reputable car repair shop with the latest technology in scanners they can look at the airbag system and tell if all is working as it should. Possible the stuff never got hooked up after the first collision.
 Takata airbags??   Big problem and recalls on them.  My$.02

    Paul B

[brider]

Thanks. The KIA puzzled me why they did not deploy with the first rear-ender where the windshield cracked, but the Volvo really has me confused; those cars are nothing if not passenger-safe, and I don't believe they were Takata bags (I think that issue was them self-deploying without any crash?), so why didn't they go off. Bags in the other car deployed.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

For the Volvo accident was it a glancing blow, or a high g-force deceleration? Volvo's Supplemental Restraint System is designed to avoid deploying the airbags in collisions where the airbag may do more harm than good in injuring the occupants, especially if seat belts are in use.

[aklawok]

Most cars have 2 airbag sensors somewhere under the front bumper, and an inertial sensor sometimes near the radiator. A frontal impact should cause deployment but not a rear or perpendicular one.
If one or more sensors, including the ones in the seats are not functional a warning light on dash should be on. A home OBD reader will not diagnose or reset airbags. On some vehicles ( like my 07 Silverado) the sensors are no longer available, and we're a common fail item, part of the pandemic supply chain collapse I believe.

[brider]

For the Volvo accident was it a glancing blow, or a high g-force deceleration? Volvo's Supplemental Restraint System is designed to avoid deploying the airbags in collisions where the airbag may do more harm than good in injuring the occupants, especially if seat belts are in use.

This may be the explanation for the Volvo, those crafty Swedes! But I would consider my crash a high-G deceleration, because the point of impact was almost dead center on my car, and driver's front corner on the other. My car was propelled BACKWARD from the point of collision to come to rest on the grass just off the road. I had my seatbelt on and not a scratch on me, head did not hit the wheel or anything.