Airbag failure

[Samomma]

Hello! Husband was rear ended yesterday in Porsche. Pushing him into the 2 cars ahead of him. Airbag failed to deploy and displayed airbag failure light on dash. Should this be reported in case of recall?

[Loren]

Exact model and year of your car please...

[Samomma]

2002 911 careers 4s 2d coupe

[DBJoe996]

I  will tread carefully on this one.  Hopefully your husband is okay.  This may or may not be a simple case of airbag failure, and why, because there are insurance, medical and legal ramifications and questions at stake, for your husband and for Porsche, and for the other drivers involved.  Apparently the airbag should have been deployed, but failed.  This is a serious matter.  So,

1) Get an attorney to help you investigate and advise you

2) Have the vehicle flat-bedded to a Porsche Dealer

3) Tell them you are developing a legal investigation into what failed and why

4) Have them query the DME/ECU with the Porsche PWIIS software to pinpoint what failed and any error codes

5) Specifically tell them not to reset any codes they find

6) Tell them that the particular failure of the airbag deployment system will be sent to Porsche North America by your attorney, so you need documentation of everything

Just my suggestions.

Edited August 9, 2017 by DBJoe996

[Samomma]

Thank you for your response. At the point we just want to find out why it failed, and go from there. The car was towed from the scene and my husband was taken by ambulance. It was now towed to adjusters.  We don't believe we want to hire an attorney, however we want to be sure it's not a malfunction that Porsche needs to review to keep other people safe.. it's more about pinpointing the reasoning and letting them handle it. So, didn't know he f we call a dealership, or who/where to report a malfunction. 

[Loren]

It should still be reported - perhaps through your insurance company (IMHO).

[judgejon]

Your altruism is duly noted.

Both advisements above are certainly reasonable and prudent.

You need to get the fault codes printed out right away.  Whatever you do, this seems to be crucial.

 

Good luck.  Hope and trust your husband is ok.

[hardtailer]

I would worry that a dealer would do what they consider best for them or the manufacturer they represent which may not necessarily be best for the customer handing them such a vehicle .

 

Depending on the speed the car in front was hit the threshold to deploy the airbag was perhaps not met. Maybe in the crash itself a sensor relevant to the proper functioning of the airbag sensor has been damaged and as a consequence the error message shows.