Side/window Air Bag problems of the 1999 Volvo S70

Vehicle was involved in a 45mph collision on 9/12/2017. Front driver's side was impacted. The collision was severe enough to cause the front passenger airbag to blow. However, the front driver's side airbag did not blow up, despite the impact happening on the front driver side. A complaint was submitted to Volvo on 9/19/2017. A call from (201) 768-7300 was received today 9/20. I forgot to note down her name but she was a Volvo representative. She correctly stated that there was no occupant weight sensor in the passenger side and therefore they cannot discriminate when a crash is severe. However, she stated that because I had my seat belt on, the system detected that I was safe and therefore did not blow up the driver airbag. This explanation seemed very bizarre to me as I believe if the crash was severe enough to blow up the passenger airbag, the driver airbag should blow up too, especially since the impact was on the driver side. I was repeatedly told that the system was complicated and therefore would not understand. I found this explanation to be unacceptable.

The contact owns a 1999 Volvo S70. The contact stated that the driver was traveling 65 mph when the vehicle crashed into a concrete culvert pipe and only the passenger side air bags deployed. The passenger seat however, was not occupied. The contact also stated that black and white smoke emitted from the engine after the crash. The crash caused head injuries to the driver. The police were contacted and a report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure and current mileages were 100,000.

Consumer had a front end collision, and driver's side air bag did not deploy. Driver was slightly injured. Passenger's side air bag did deploy.