It was my understanding that they would still deploy, just at a different rate, to account for different body movement with no seatbelt on, at least on some cars.quote:
Originally posted by farrarfan1:
Pablo, modern occupant protection systems won't allow the airbags to fire if it senses the seatbelts aren't in use.It's not unusual to see very severe impacts with unrestrained drivers/occupants and no airbag deployment.
That said, it's also possible the car in question did not have an airbag. In some countries, when people don't have comprehensive insurance and try to fix a car with on low budget, they will not replace a deployed airbag with a new one. Common practice in my home country for example.