Wife was driving the H3 down the road travelling at around 80km/hr when the side curtain Air bags deployed (both sides) without any warning

There was no impact or trauma, just cruising to the shops on a straight stretch of road, both my kids were in the back seat, and my 11 year old daughter got hit in the side of her face, while it scared the **** out of my wife and 8 year old son.

As the air bags deployed, the seat belts locked in tight (actually pulled in tight to the point where breathing became difficult) and the engine cut out and hazzard lights self activated.

Now the car is un-driveable as both seat belts are locked solid and can not be moved, the seat belts pulled that tight that they damaged the interior trim and seat leather, the air bags are hanging out and the interior roof lining is damaged.

It is our only mode of transport and we live 100km from the closest town

The vehicle is a 2009 Hummer H3 I5 automatic Leather trim with under 90,000km.

Has anyone had any experience with this, we have contacted Hummer Customer service centre and are awaiting a reply.

 

Hummer Service will likely tell you that no one else has ever had this issue. They will likely tell you that you must have been doing something really wild and crazy and that it isn't covered by warranty because you were abusing the vehicle.
The truth is that this has happened to numerous people, many doing nothing more than what your wife was doing. There is an issue with the sensors on the air bags. Many people have forced GM to fix their trucks under warranty but it usually involves a fairly long fight. Use the search function on this and the other Hummer forums and you will find other instances where this has happened and what people went through. I ran into a guy at Tustin Hummer several years ago that had this issue. GM was telling him he must have been way off camber for the roll sensors to release the airbags. He said he was on a flat dirt road barely moving. I gave him the same advice I just gave you and he got his truck fixed by GM. With the air bag controversy going on now GM may be a little quicker to fix your truck than they have been.

 

Thanks, I have done a Google search and there are some stories out there similar to mine, but not much really.

I was trying to work out what will happen as the truck is out of warranty, but I think this is an issue that should not be warranty related, it's a safety feature build into the vehicle that should reasonably be expected to last the life of the vehicle or until an accident occurs, air bags are not a wear and tear item that wears out and should be replaced periodically like tires, exhaust, battery etc etc.

I believe this is a major stuff up and needs to be rectified, the cost of repairing this would not be cheap

Ie I imagine it would involve replacing air bag sensors, air bags, roof lining, seat belts and trim pieces, not counting the time off the road and hire car.

 

I have heard 4-6K to fix. This is a life safety issue concerning known faulty and defective air bag systems. It takes a number of complaints to the NTSB to get an inquiry going. Hopefully with the global airbag investigation and lawsuits the manufacturers will be more proactive in dealing with these known safety issues.

 

I was thinking around the 3-4K mark when I first inspected the vehicle, so your estimate may be spot on by the time towing fees, hire cars etc come into it.

 

If GM did have a problem with this and some how wanted to blame you, you might have them download the info from the EDR aka, black box.
That way you could easily prove you were doing nothing but driving straight like you claim.

GM, Saturn, Airbag, Air Bag, Black Box, EDR, Event Data Recorder, SDM, Deployment Accident, SDM Technical Information, GM Airbag SDM Locations By Year / Model, GM Air Bag SDM Crash Data Recovery Using The Bosch CDR (aka Vetronix) Tool

 

That is interesting, I would assume they would do this??

Or is it my responsibility??

Hummer Customer Service called today and they want to inspect the vehicle and are in the process of organising a courtesy vehicle for us, so far so good.

 

They, the dealership would check the EDR only if they didn't believe your story of just driving down the road.
You could suggest they check the EDR if they start to give you any hassle.
I can't imagine they could think this was your fault.
I have not heard of any other H3 doing this

 

Ok, well so far so good, yesterday around lunch time our Hummer got taken to a Holden (GM) dealership for inspection, and they have given us a courtesy vehicle to drive, we had to complete some paperwork and they said they will get back to us within 24hrs.

They just called us today and said they have inspected the vehicle, and also informed us that the vehicle will be shipped to a Hummer Dealership (about 500km away) and that all parts have been ordered, however the roof lining needs to be shipped from the US, and that they will require the vehicle for a 'few' weeks depending on how fast they can get the parts.

They have also informed us that they will be providing us with a hire car for the period the vehicle is off the road.

So at this stage it appears that they are fixing the vehicle, so far no attempts have been made by Hummer to shift the blame.

Do a Google search, there have been plenty of incidents of this occurring.

There was a recent Aussie Hummer club outing day in a 4x4 park where two out of seven H3's blew their air bags during the day, there was one guy in NZ that went through two sets of air bags in his H3

Some reading here:
View topic - Hummer H3 problems | Australian 4WD Action

There is plenty of others if you search the net.

 

I'm glad GM is going to fix your truck