Melbourne woman left with scarring, claims no airbags deployed in horror car smash

A woman left with serious injuries claims not one of her car’s seven airbags deployed when a truck smashed into the back of it.

A Melbourne woman is launching legal action against Fiat claiming none of the seven airbags inside her hatchback deployed when a truck ploughed into it.

Naomi Brown was left with permanent scarring on her forehead after the incident on March 25 this year when her head smashed into the steering wheel after the Fiat 500 convertible was rear-ended in Victoria’s east.

The 51-year-old was on her way to her father’s 80th birthday celebration in Paynesville and was five minutes away from Bairnsdale on the Princes Highway when the smash happened.

“I’m driving a manual and when I went to drop down a gear I accidentally hit the brake so the car has sort of bunny hopped, but there was a truck right behind me and he just took my car out,” Ms Brown told NCA NewsWire.

“I would’ve been completely fine and would've just quickly hit the accelerator but the truck was way too close and it was 80km/h in that section of the highway.

“The car was half gone, the whole boot was completely squashed in and I just couldn’t believe none of the airbags – not even one – had gone off.”

Naomi Brown’s car was rear-ended on March 25. Picture: Supplied

Naomi Brown claims none of the car’s airbags deployed in the horror smash. Picture: Supplied

The Hawthorn resident also claimed the seat belt had failed to lock upon impact, causing her head to thrust forward and smash into the steering wheel.

“There’s no way my head should have been able to go all that way – I’ve got quite long legs so I sit far back in the seat and it’s a long way for my head to travel to the steering wheel,” she said.

“I actually split my head open right to the bone so I’ve got this V-shaped scar right in the middle of my forehead and if you lift it up you can see the bone currently.

“The plastic surgeon told me I’m left permanently scarred so I’ve had to psychologically adjust knowing it’s permanent and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

Naomi Brown is left with permanent scarring on her forehead after the crash. Picture: Supplied

Ms Brown said she was also left with no feeling on that part of her forehead and had suffered bouts of vertigo since the crash.

“I actually bought the car because the car salesman told me it had seven airbags – it’s a tiny car but that amount of airbags reassured me I would be fine in the event of an accident,” she said.

Ms Brown purchased the $30,000 vehicle in 2016 and is pursuing legal action against the Italian manufacturer and the truck driver to cover medical costs, income loss and compensation for physical and psychological harm.

Carbone Lawyers is launching legal action against Fiat. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Carbone Lawyers managing partner Tony Carbone said his client deserved answers about why key safety features allegedly failed to function.

“An airbag’s key function is to protect someone’s head and here you’ve got a very high impact crash and no airbag went off – how do you explain that,” he said.

“Most people in the community wouldn’t know that you can have such a high impact crash such as this one and the airbags won’t work and that’s very disturbing – It’s even more disturbing that the seat belt also failed to protect her.”

He also said he had other clients in high impact crashes, dealing with different vehicle brands where airbags failed to deploy.

In a statement, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia said the manufacturer had conducted an investigation into the incident and claimed the vehicle’s safety features were not defective.

“FCA Australia has completed a thorough investigation in relation to this matter,” it said.

“The outcome of FCA Australia’s investigation is that the vehicle’s safety features were functioning and operated as intended and designed.

“Given the incident involved a high-speed rear-end collision with a truck, we are glad to hear that the occupants of the vehicle were able to walk away from the incident.”

[e-mail]

Originally published as Melbourne woman left with scarring, claims no airbags deployed in horror car smash