Airbags act as crash protection
It is an important configuration that can protect the personnel on the vehicle in a critical moment
However, if the airbag suddenly pops out during normal driving
That security configuration could be dangerous
During the ride, the air bag suddenly pops out to scare the crying child
Mr. Chen bought a new BMW 525 in September this year, and it has only been more than 600 kilometers in more than 2 months.
At about 9:40 a.m. on November 17, Mr. Chen's family drove north to south of the Xiasha Bridge.
During normal driving, the four side airbags on the left and right sides suddenly popped out, causing Mr. Chen to stop the car in the first lane, the emergency call was started, and the child was scared to cry.
Mr. Chen said that after the incident that day, the driver of a large truck in front of the right side may have heard the noise and suspected that his vehicle had a flat tire, so he double-jumped and stopped in the emergency lane:
"But the driver came down to check it out, and found that it wasn't his own car that burst the tire, and then immediately drove away, just ten seconds before and after."
Mr. Chen also provided us with a video of the driving recorder, in which there was no obvious puncture of the large truck in front of the right.
After Mr. Chen then moved the car to safety, he checked the appearance of the body and found no signs of collision.
Mr. Chen is very strange, there is no collision, there is no big car puncture, why does the air bag pop out for no reason? He suspected that the airbag system of his BMW was malfunctioning.
Manufacturer report: No faults were found in the vehicle
After the accident, Mr. Chen's Hangzhou Baoyi 4s store where he bought the car followed up to deal with the matter, and the relevant person in charge said that the BMW manufacturer had sent technicians to collect the relevant information of the driving computer, and it took 10-15 working days to give the final result.
Finally, on December 7, we received a letter from BMW Brilliance replying on the matter.
We also sent the relevant materials to the automotive industry experts, who pointed out the main points of information for us.
1. According to the analysis of vehicle diagnostic data, the airbag computer triggers the right airbag and the air curtains on both sides after recognizing the collision signal on the right side of the vehicle.
2. It can be seen in the driving recorder video that there is shock wave smoke generated by the puncture tire in the right front area of the vehicle.
3. The shock wave generated by the tire burst of the truck will cause the pressure sensor to detect the pressure rise, thus achieving the trigger condition of the air bag.
4. In summary, the cause of the airbag ejection is caused by the flat tire of the truck on the right side of the vehicle.
Industry experts questioned, high-speed traffic police denied
Experts in the automotive industry said that the reply sent by BMW Brilliance seems to have no problems in logic, but it lacks a strong basis.
After watching the dashcam video again, he questioned.
Expert in the automotive industry
1. The air pressure generated by the flat tire of a large truck is very large, and it will indeed trigger the airbag to pop. Because of this, the impact of the flat tire on the truck is also very large, I did not see the right side of the truck tire in the video has a significant deformation, or the truck due to the driving deviation caused by the flat tire, so the tire burst is only the speculation of the BMW manufacturer, and there is no conclusive evidence.
2. There is suspected shock wave smoke in the right front of the video, but it cannot be ruled out that the side air curtain is popped open to produce shock wave smoke, and the principle of the air bag itself is to inflate it. Therefore, it is difficult to believe that there is a flat tire in a truck based on the shock wave smoke alone.
3. There is only a text description in the file, and no data is reflected. It's like saying, "The sensor detects pressure, so it triggers the airbag." "But when did you detect pressure?" Where is the sensor located? Is there a problem with the sensor itself that has a false positive?
Experts in the automotive industry believe that this letter is only the result of a speculation told by the BMW manufacturer to the customer, which is unconvincing.
In addition, we also contacted the Hangzhou high-speed traffic police to understand the relevant situation.
Hangzhou high-speed traffic police six brigades of police
First of all, we have not yet received any warning information about the puncture of the tires of large trucks related to this incident.
In addition, after monitoring and verification, at about 9:40 a.m. on November 17, 2021, a black BMW sedan in the direction of the north to the south of the Xiasha Bridge (21 km + 300 meters), the license plate number Zhejiang AP917G suddenly stopped at the side of the road, and then two trucks stopped on the hard shoulder, and the driver got off the car to check the condition of the car and left.
None of the above three reported to the police.
Mr. Chen said that there is no evidence that the airbag ejection was caused by a flat tire in the truck, and he cannot accept the claim given by BMW.
We will also feedback the situation learned from the high-speed traffic police to the Baoyi 4s store, and the relevant person in charge said that it will continue to communicate with the manufacturer.
Source: Hangzhou Traffic 918