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Remember that an airbag deploys at speeds that, in some cases, exceed two hundred miles per hour. To put this in perspective, consider that many accident survivors report hearing what sounded like a shotgun blast when the airbag deployed. The airbag itself, according to many, seems to explode more than inflate once it breaks through the plastic casing that houses it.

In order to determine whether or not your airbag performed adequately during an accident, there are three questions that all motorists should ask after-the-fact: Should the airbag have deployed at all? Did the airbag deploy late? Did the airbag have any specific safety features?

There are myriad factors that affect whether or not an airbag deploys. If the airbag didn’t deploy but it ought to have, the typical explanation is that one or more components of the airbag’s sensory system failed. For example, the wires that connect the crash sensor and electronic control unit can fail and often this leads to an airbag that will not deploy. Frighteningly enough, many airbag modules sold haven’t been tested in car-to-car crash tests.

Should the passenger-side airbag deploy but the driver-side airbag fail to do so, it could be the result of a fault “clockspring,” which is an electrical coil located in the steering column that carries the current necessary to force the airbag’s release. Should the passenger-side airbag fail while the driver-side airbag deploys normally, it is possible that the sensors were unable to detect the human being located in the passenger seat. These sorts of defects can also cause an airbag to be released when it isn’t supposed to, due to a phenomenon known as unwarranted low-speed deployment. For example, an electrical defect can lead to minor actions—such as turning the ignition—deploying the airbag.

There are also many reasons as to why an airbag might deploy later than it was supposed to, which often has the disastrous result of allowing for a person to be thrust much closer to the airbag before it expands. At such close proximity, an individual can be badly injured or even killed.

A vehicle typically contains a “black box” for the airbag system, otherwise known as the SDM (Sensing and Diagnostic Module), DERM (Diagnostic and Energy Reserve Module), RCM (Restraints Control Module), EDR (Event Data Recorder), or ECU (Electronic Control Unit). This device will, more often than not, be able to tell whether or not an airbag deployed later than it was designed to.

Since airbags expand at nearly 200 mph, they include several different types of specific safety features designed to reduce the risk of a person being injured after they deploy. These features typically include air bag inflaters (help to keep the airbag from inflating with too much force), vents (that release gas and therefore reduce the pressure when a person is thrust against the airbag), and tethers that restrain the bag so it doesn’t “slap” the driver or passenger.

Nonetheless, a vitally important aspect of the airbag system is how it interacts with the other components of the vehicle. In order for the airbag’s sensors’ signal to be received quickly enough, the automobile must have a well-designed frame or structure. The dashboard must also be built in such a way as to minimize damage to the knees and legs by keeping an individual’s body positioned properly. Finally, if and when the airbag does deploy, it cannot be allowed to create additional hazard for other components of the vehicle. In a few instances, for instance, airbags have actually destroyed the dashboard as they are deployed, creating shards of debris that fly at the car’s driver and/or passengers at incredible speeds.

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