University of Extrication
Anatomy Of A Hoax
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SUBJECT: |
Airbag Door-Unlocking Hoax |
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TOPIC: |
Understanding Why law enforcement bulletin of door-unlocking injury is false |
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OBJECTIVE: |
Understand the risks inherent with unlokcing doors of vehicles equipped with side-impact airbags |
RONALD E. MOORE
University of Extrication Editor
An "Officer's Safety Caution" warning bulletin being circulated among
law enforcement agencies nationwide is getting the attention of fire
and EMS responders as well. As written, however, the warning appears
to be nothing more than a hoax.
Here's a summary of the original law enforcement memo broadcast nationwide in the summer of 1997:
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OFFICER SAFETY CAUTION
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) out of Chicago has just
informed us of a potential safety issue dealing with side impact
airbags.
Recently, a Hillsboro County (OH) sheriff's deputy was severely injured
while attempting to unlock a Honda Accura with a Slim Jim-type tool.
This vehicle was equipped with a side impact airbag that detonated
while attempting this unlock. The airbag forced the Slim Jim-type tool
up through the deputy's throat causing serious injury.
Any officer attempting to unlock a vehicle in this manner should
question the owner as to whether the vehicle is equipped with such an
airbag and use extreme caution when doing so.
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And now, the truth behind this ficticious story:
Slim Jim® is a registered trademark used generically here to
refer to the family of metal door unlocking tools. These devices are
used by a trained and knowledgeable person standing outside a locked
car door. It inserted down into the car door along the window glass.
According to the tool manufacturer, the device can be manually
maneuvered into and on the door linkages to unlock the door.
The reason fire and EMS personnel are paying attention to this police
officer memo it because, at first glance, it is conceivable that a
metal tool inserted inside a car door could short circuit some
electrical system and activate a side airbag. It is easy to imagine
that if a person were standing at a door with the unlocking tool in
their hand, it could shoot upward towards their head and throat as an
airbag deployed.
What troubles this author is that the warning bulletin is filled with
so much inaccurate information that it is hard to believe the event it
describes ever really took place or could even happen in the first
place.
Consider this.
There is no such place as Hillsboro County, Ohio.
There is a city of Hillsboro, Ohio with its' own police department.
Contact with that agency revealed that they knew nothing of any such
airbag incident and even exclaimed, "if something like that had
happened anywhere around here, we would have heard about it".
Hillsboro, Ohio is located in Highland County. The Highland County
(OH) Sheriff's Department also had never heard of any such event. I
reached my first dead end!
As a result of conversation with the National Insurance Crime Bureau's
Rosemont (IL) office, they requested me to contact their eastern US
field office. Staff members there reported that in fact they had
received a phone call from a Florida police agency mentioning an airbag
injury event that occurred to a police officer in Ohio. NICB never
checked into any details of the story. The one casual phone call to
NICB that prompted their posting of their "Agent Safety Alert" came
from a Hillsboro County (FL) sheriff's detective. Now it seemed, at
least I knew where the "Hillsboro" part of the story came from. I
continued to work to get to the bottom of this story.
Contact with Charles Downey of the Hillsboro County (FL) Sheriff's
Department revealed that not only had he never heard of the story but
he couldn't locate any of his deputies or detectives that had ever
heard of it either. Back to square one!
Next, as I really read into the details of the bulletin, something else
caught my eye. There is no such thing as a Honda Accura automobile.
There is the Honda Accord, Civic or Prelude and there is the Accura
Integra, NSX, TL, CL and RL sedan vehicles, but not a Honda Accura
(Accura is a division of American Honda Motor Company). Besides that,
neither Honda or Accura have any vehicles, including their 1998 models,
equipped with side impact airbags. More dead ends!
Anyone knowing more about this alleged incident is encouraged to
contact this author. In the meantime, if any fire or EMS responders
are responding to lockout calls and using slim jim-type door unlocking
tools, you must be aware of not only the airbag injury potential but
the potential for you and your department to wind up in court.
Firefighters unlocking car doors for citizens, thinking they are being
the good guys can quickly wind up the losers in small claims court.
Progressive fire and EMS departments have stopped this practice due to
the high liability risk that is incurred. According to NICB, one
vehicle is stolen in the US every 20 seconds.
Theft-deterrent innovations built into the car door by the manufacturer make the
success of unlocking the door doubtful in the first place. Our probing
around inside the car door can also disconnect or disable the side
impact airbag system. later, if that vehicle were struck in a side
collision and the side impact bags did not deploy, it may be a liability
issue that will come back to the engine company "messing around" inside
the car door.
If you receive a request for a lock out of a vehicle and you find a
life-threatening situation, use your universal tempered glass door
unlocking tool, the spring loaded center punch. If there is only
inconvenience to the citizen due to being locked out of their car,
explain the circumstances and they call the car dealership or a local
locksmith.
The use of a Slim Jim-type door-unlocking tool has suddenly become too much of a risk and a liability for this fire department practice to continue. We need to rethink our door-unlocking protocols. What will your department's door-unlocking policy be now that you know the truth behind the Slim Jim hoax?
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