We’re all thankful for passive safety measures to ensure a car is safe as can be in the event of a crash. But, for one individual, airbags ruined a track day.
Video shows the driver of a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 partaking in a time attack event on a track when suddenly, the car’s side curtain airbags deploy, seemingly for no reason at all. The driver does cut a corner somewhat, but the Camaro ZL1 never struck anything.
Doing some digging shows unintended deployment of the airbags isn’t exactly isolated in the Chevrolet Camaro—as far back as the fifth-generation car. Back in 2011, a video swept the internet showing a driver having harmless fun in his Camaro SS when the airbags also deploy suddenly. Then, General Motors explained the oversensitive airbag sensors.
The sensors are designed to predict a rollover crash since they can’t deploy too late and lose their intended effect. So, basically, when the driver of this 2018 Camaro ZL1 swept through the corner, the sensors predicted the car was about to roll over and deployed the airbags.
Thankfully, no one else was on the track when the airbags did deploy and it appears the driver only received a minor cut.
Comments
The sensors are not so sensitive but the vehicles are becoming ever more so extreme.
The ZR2 Colorado’s are having bag issues out on the trails too.
This will be a difficult one to correct as you can not shut them off but how do you let them not go off with the abilities these cars have.
I saw a Camaro the other day that had a built up engine and the bags went off at over 100 MPH do to G Forces.
“A” ZR2 Colorado had a bag issue out on the trails too.
Fixed that for you. You make it sound like a bunch of them are having issues and it is wide spread, that is false. There are 2 I have heard of (actually only 1 but they refer to a second via word of mouth).
Really you saw the other day? Do you mean that video from a couple years back? It happens extremely rarely, you can count on one hand the number of times it has happened to each particular model…
“Several” ZR2 Colorado’s had a bag issue out on trails. Fixed it for you.
I have seen 3 reported cases so far. Now to clarify the circumstances were based on drivers accounts.
I do see bag issues on various off road trucks and it can be driver related, modification related and even just a system failure.
Either way it is a problem non bag trucks never had to deal with.
The Camaro I saw the video.
Is it Kubica going incognito with a wig-n-beard?
On track testing days, I found the most sensitive and disaster predictive ‘sensor’ was a passenger. I did three laps with a critic who happened to be a “Ford Guy” once. He got out of the car white as a ghost, told me I was insane, and went home. He never bragged about his 351 ever again.
Look like it almost broke his arm…..
Considering his lazy driving technique (one hand steering the whole time???) and the awful line, I’m not surprised the airbags went off. That’s a pretty jarring impact to cut the chicane like he did.
Why did GM stop putting in the airbag defeat switch? In the 90’s that was a standard feature on many vehicles.
We own a 2016 2SS and the roll over airbags deployed at around 35 mph. Now GM will not help us in any way