Quote Originally Posted by dmaxben View Post
Im almost positive that there are no circumstances under which the SDM (I dont know what audi calls their airbag module, GM calls it a Sensory Diagnostic Module) will intentionally fire the passenger side bag but not fire the driver side bag.

If the passenger bag blows in an accident, the driver side [should have] blown too. The side-impact airbags are obviously independant; they might not necessarily deploy when the front bags deploy or vice versa, but the two front bags are on the same deployment loop. The exception being the B7 airbags with the passenger sensing system/active passenger side airbag...depending on if someone is sitting in the passenger seat, or if the person is too small, in an accident it might deploy only the driver side bag and not deploy the passenger side bag, but NEVER vice-versa.

I think those instances of B7 bag retrofits (where the B6 was crashed and the pass bag deployed but the driver side did NOT) were simply that the B7 bag is....wait for it....simply NOT compatible (in any way) with a B6 single stage SDM.

JMO.

ben
ORL'Y... You naysayers are making this way too easy... ...

Let's see. As unfortunate as Tony's accident was, this was a perfect example as to what could happen when a car w/ an OEM airbag set-up crashes.

Quote Originally Posted by Tony@AE Performance View Post
Well tonight I crashed my car on my way to my girlfriends house. ... I'm in the fast lane going 65 because it's raining pretty heavily and I didn't feel like speeding. Next thing I know, my car is slowly doing a 180 across all 3 lanes and I smash driver side first into a huge wall. At this point my car is facing traffic along the side shoulder in the pouring rain. My passenger side airbag went off but mine didn't...
Wanna reconsider your statement Ben... ...

Now Ben, do not take this personally. I'm just trying to illustrate that when it comes to airbags, unless one has an extensive understanding of their operating mode as well as first hand experience, we all know sh!t and we're all just drawing our own assumptions/conclusions.

The statement below is probably the most reliable piece of information posted on this particular topic just b/c it comes from someone who has experience in this field. Albeit it's still second hand information, but it makes so much sense.

Quote Originally Posted by halik View Post
It is a fact that the seatbelt restraints, steering wheel or pass side airbags can fire independently of one another, so having the passenger airbag go, but not the driver's is entirely feasible.

My brother does R&D on the seatbelt things for an automotive supplier, confirmed the above.
Why would you develop a system that would be costly to replace and that could also lead to more injuries due to unnecessary deployment?

Imagine the cost insurance companies would have to pay if the airbag system wasn't engineered in a way that each unit is somewhat independent from each other when cars get into accidents. The side curtains are independent from the SW airbag or the passenger airbag. Obviously sensors are located throughout the car to provide the on-board computer to figure out which airbag(s) need to be fired off and when.

I would actually not be surprised to hear/learn that insurance companies played a role when auto-makers decided to implement bladders in passenger seats to confirm the presence of a person in that seat before deploying the airbag.