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-   -   XUV500: Severe crash, but not a single airbag deployed (driver injured) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/200186-xuv500-severe-crash-but-not-single-airbag-deployed-driver-injured.html)

Mahindra xuv 500 w8, 2013 model
None of the 6 airbags deployed. No seat covers, no accessories, no bumper guards. Seat belts on.
My son suffered from severe traumatic brain injuries. Right side of body, speech, hearing, motor skills are severely impaired and damaged.

That is really sad news. I hope your son is recovering and gets better soon.
Please tweet this to Anand Mahindra and only his personal attention will help get to the root of this issue.
How and where did this accident happen?

Damn, this is just so sad. Invest in a "supposedly" safe(r) car, and then this!

Do you know how this accident happened? Given the pictures of the damage, it is inconceivable as to why did the Side or Curtain air bags NOT deploy. I can still - maybe - understand if the Front airbags did not.

How is your Son's recovery progressing? I really hope that he gets better soon.

And don't just tweet to Mr. Mahindra - Sue him.

This is really sad to see. Hope your son recovers quickly.

Can you share some more details on what caused the accident? Haven't heard of airbags not deploying cases with XUV but would be keen to know more about it since I own one myself. Looking at the condition of the car, airbags should have been triggered but additional details will surely help.

All the best! and take care.

Extremely sorry to hear this, and wish your son a speedy recovery.

Front Airbag deployment needs a frontal impact or "I think in some cases" severe deceleration. Maybe in your case it was a rollover and side impact, and hence no airbag deployment.

I'm sure this topic is been discussed a lot in team bhp.

Because there is possibility of Side Impact and Roll-over, should the Side and Curtain Airbags not have deployed? If not, when exactly would we (customers) reasonably expect them to deploy?

This is plainly horrible and disheartening. When I drive a car fitted with airbags, I expect them to work 10 out of 10 times when needed. I have read many comments in different threads mentioning that it is good that airbags didn't deploy since the repair cost for inflated airbag is expensive. Honestly, I would any day pick an option of airbag deploying than it not deploying. The car here seems to have had massive impact on every side, enough to have shaken up every inch of the car. If this doesn't deploy airbags, I wonder what will.

This makes me wonder how do manufacturers ensure that airbags are functional in 5-10 year old cars? For eg. a fire extinguisher may never be used but yet needs to be serviced every year. Shouldn't there be checks every 1-2 years to ensure that all sensors, fuses, explosives in the airbag are in working order and working as expected?

Car makers are happy to push useless services like engine treatment but don't seem worried about cases where airbags fail to deploy in case of accident.

This incident warrants a criminal case to be lodged against Mahindra. Wishing for a speedy recovery of the injured and hoping that the brain injuries heal.

Accident happened on 11th of May 2018. Based on reconstruction, as my son and his friend were brought to Fortis Emergency by an autorickshaw driver aided by onlookers, he was trying to avert a collision and swerved the car towards left. Went over the side footpath, crashed into a heavy metal fence and went into the green belt, where there was a cluster of trees and tree trunks. There was no roll over. The car spun perhaps and hit a tree trunk with severe impact, before coming to a stop. Had tweeted soon after the accident. That story with Mahindra is another story of apathy and frustration.

Bottom line is we can't let the criminal decide his own case. The results shall be obvious. There has to be an independent third party monitored probe that nails the truth and does the fact finding in an impartial and fair manner. There obviously has been a critical malfunction with the components and or the engineering of the vehicle.

Am really sorry to hear this, and thank god that saved you all. Of course the mental trauma will take several months and years to go (still unforgettable) but

I hope your son recovered by now and things are returning to normal. How old is he BTW, if you don't mind?

I am one who met with major accident along with my wife and 5 year daughter last year and surviving due to safe car, so i can totally empathize what you are going through. Its not at all easy, but time is the only medicine.

Back to safety or car, its still unbelievable why the airbags didn't deploy by seeing the pictures. Wasn't the side collision with trees not enough to open airbag? I agree with other comments, if not for this does the manufacturers expect even more severe impact for the airbags to deploy :Shockked:
Unbelievable!

All the best, take care and God bless!

-Ravi

My son is 19 years old. A very bright out of the box kid who started his first internet startup at 14 years of age. Got a almost 95 percent in boards and a scholarship. He was heading to Canada for his undergrad this summer.
It's nothing short of destroying a budding life. Production of such vehicles must stop until a mechanism is in place. It's time that Indian Manufacturers stop testing vehicles on customers.

I do hope he recovers. Am so sorry to hear

I do hope you find a good independent engineer. Do let us know whom you find as this would help others involved.

I dont think Mahindras have a proper crash testing facility but again the cars have been sold in Australia and South Africa

I admit to being one of the folks to have mentioned this but only in the case of light impact situations where the occupants have walked out without a scratch. Normally, the airbag self check monitors systems.

Some of the causes could be

• It could be merely a flashing light which does nothing as opposed to an actual self check system
• The impact sensors were defective - they sensed neither rapid deceleration not impact
• The airbags did not trigger.
• The seat sensors did not detect anyone seated

Airbags normally have a life of 10 years which is the economic life of the car.

An air crash receives huge attention. Regulatory body's are in place. Investigation Agencies are in place. The difference may be in the number of lives lost. Both are machines. A life is A life and has the same value . How come when it comes to cars in this country, everything is played down and forgotten as just another mishap. I think it's high time we wake up. I on my part have committed my life, just to do that.
We can't let the guilty get away.

Sincerely hope he'll come out good. Cheer up!

As a W8 2013 model owner, I am really scared. What's the function of curtain airbags then? Based on the photos, this is a catastrophic situation that calls for the deployment of front airbags. Outright scary.

You must get a good lawyer. A court order directing ARAI (or some similar institution with tech prowess) to do a forensic evaluation and report is what you should aim for. Steep walk ahead, I don't think no court in India has ordered as such yet, but I could be wrong. All the best!

I am trying hard my friend. Unfortunately we live with laws and systems in this country that are exploited by the powerful lobbies. There is little hope in this system for the common man. Manufacturing lobbies, vote politics, big money, and plain bullying is their forte. They control the media, manipulate and pay.

In the absence of a government regulator its difficult.

However it has to start somewhere. It's hard to trust.

I have met and I am in touch with the best technical expertise available but I have to be very sure.

I met someone who extended all his help but when I found who funds his Company, I was aghast.

Arvind, please wish your son a "get well soon" from all of us. We sincerely pray & hope that he gets on the path to speedy recovery and all is well soon.

Mahindra can blame sensors, angle of impact etc. all they want, but this is most definitely an accident where the airbags should have deployed. There are no two sides to it. Those airbags could have led to lesser injuries to your son.

I'm just wondering what is the root cause of this? Is it insurance? I mean, end of the day, any manufacturer can set the airbag trigger point to anywhere between easy or aggressive. Other than insurance claims, I can't think of any reason why a manufacturer wouldn't err on the side of safety. Do companies care more about their customers or the insurance companies? Or is it how much customers have to shell out in repairs (you have to pay 50% of the cost of airbag replacement).

Shame on you, Mahindra.

Well said :thumbs up

:Frustrati Mahindra's electronics are anyway the worst!