Friday evening before last, my daughter (17 yrs old and a senior in high school) was riding with her friend and was hit by a car in the right front bumper area. The car my daughter was riding in, a 2009 Kia Spectra, was totaled. Yet, despite the massive amount of damage to the car, the passenger airbag did not deploy nor did the seat belt lock. Hence, my daughter was knocked unconscious for about 45 minutes, her nose was broke, she received blood in the ventricles of the brain and she is extremely sore, to say the least. Funny thing is that the driver's dad took the brand new car (5,000 miles and 3 months old) to the dealer over the passenger air bag about two weeks before the accident. He was told that a passenger had to be 100 lbs and be seated just right in the passenger seat in order for the airbags to engage. The emt/firemen who rescued by daughter can all vouch for this. How is it that Kia can advertise 'airbags' as a safety feature when they only deploy randomly?

- Macon, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2009 Kia Spectra ex/LX/sx. The contact stated that another vehicle crashed into the passenger front side of her vehicle. Upon impact the air bags failed to deploy and the restraint system failed to secure her in the seat. As a consequence she sustained severe injuries to the upper and lower part of her body. The cause of the failures has not been determined. She has a copy of Indiana police report 09022263. She filed complaint number K1645446 with the manufacturer. Pictures of the failure are available. The failure and current mileages were 9,000. Updated 11/04/09. Updated 11/05/09

- Valparaiso, IN, USA