NHTSA Complaint #11697970 — 2016 HYUNDAI SONATA

On September 25, 2023, I was involved in a motor vehicle collision while driving my Hyundai Sonata 2016, during which the front driver-side airbag failed to deploy despite the impact being significant enough to cause injury. This non-deployment represents a malfunction of the airbag system, including its sensors and deployment components, and aligns with issues already reported in class-action complaints involving Hyundai vehicles, making my case further evidence that an airbag defect exists. Because the vehicle was declared a total loss by my insurance company and later sold at auction, the physical component is no longer in my possession now; however, I retain documentation on accident-related records that clearly show the airbag did not deploy. The failure of this critical safety system placed my safety at direct risk because the protective barrier intended to reduce impact forces was absent, resulting in greater injury than would reasonably be expected had the system functioned properly. The problem has not been reproduced yet because the vehicle was transferred to insurance immediately after the incident and was not repairable. But working with accident reconstruction engineers on this matter. Prior to the crash, the vehicle displayed no warning lights, SRS messages, or other symptoms indicating an issue with the airbag system, and at no time before the collision was I alerted to any malfunction that would have suggested the system would fail at the moment it was most needed.