NHTSA Complaint #11527112 — 2008 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

At approximately 12:05 pm on Monday, 6/12/23, I was making a right turn into a parking spot in front of Golden1 Credit Union, at 1040 E. Cypress Avenue. I was halfway into the turn when my driver's airbag deployed, striking me in the stomach and right hand and forearm. Despite being startled by the loud explosion, I managed to finish parking without hitting either the vehicle next to me or the curb. Approximately 1-2 minutes later, there was a second explosion from the airbag that sprayed small particles at me, again striking my right forearm. The incident left three superficial burn marks on my hand and arm. (I did not photograph them until this moment; only one mark is still visible.) My first thought when the airbag deployed was that I had been shot, as I heard a loud bang, smelled what I thought was gunpowder, and felt pain in my arm and stomach. I happened to be on a phone call with my spouse when it occurred (via hands-free stereo Bluetooth), so he heard the explosion followed by my shriek, and he also heard the second explosion. I had the vehicle towed to my trusted mechanics at Advanced Automotive. My service advisor was curious whether my vehicle (which I purchased used, in 2020) had been part of a safety recall in the past. In addition to his own research, he contacted a colleague at the local Jeep Chrysler dealer regarding same. Neither of them found any recall for my specific VIN, or for my specific vehicle year. He expressed his concern that even if they were to replace the airbag module, there was no guarantee that it would fix whatever had caused it to inadvertently deploy, and he recommended that I seek service from a Jeep/Chrysler dealer and implore them to take accountability for the issue. Prior to this incident, there was never any indication that anything was wrong with any safety system on the vehicle.