2010 Chevrolet Camaro curtain airbags deploy during donuts

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Car Advice

The driver and passenger curtain airbags of a 2010/2011 Chevrolet Camaro have spontaneously deployed after a man was attempting to drift the car during a driving event in America. The airbags were actuated after a swift change of direction at the end of a slide.

Originally Posted by Car Advice

It’s not very often that an American V8 sports car decides, on its own, that it no longer wants to take part in burnouts and drifting, but it seems some muscle cars have a mind of their own and want to be a bit more sensible.

Both the driver and passenger were reportedly fine after the sudden bursts inflated near their heads, however, the woman riding in the passenger seat was said to have received minor burns from the explosive nature of the airbag going off.

An official reason for the deployment hasn’t been confirmed, and it is unknown if there is a warning in the terms of use in the owner’s manual for such potentials. Reports suggest it had something to do with the accelerometers and sensors used for the airbags.

If you notice in the video, the moment the airbags deploy is the same time the Camaro shifts its weight under a sudden release of the accelerator, which would have caused a big spike in lateral g-force. You certainly wouldn’t want this to happen if you’re travelling at high speed on a track. GM spokesman Alan Adler responded to the incident in a recent Jalopnik report, saying,

Originally Posted by Alan Alder

“It is unusual to have this occur. However, it is possible for a driver to create conditions where the airbag sensors believe a rollover is imminent. This can lead to an unwanted air bag deployment.

“On rollover side curtain bags, the vehicle’s rollover sensing system is looking for a certain set of factors that ‘predict’ a vehicle is going to roll over. The airbag system cannot wait until it is too late to deploy the airbags. Drifting or creating a situation that has a certain combination of speed and vehicle angle can lead to an unwanted airbag deployment.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpL4V...layer_embedded