After a collision on US-30, I-35, or local Ames routes, many people focus on getting checked out and getting the vehicle repaired. But airbag malfunctions are not always obvious at first.
Common Ames scenarios we see include:
- Winter weather impacts the crash and delays “what happened” documentation (slippery roads, low visibility, and quick tow decisions)
- College-area traffic and sudden braking leading to disputes about collision severity and restraint performance
- Repair shop diagnostics that note restraint system issues, but the documentation doesn’t get saved by the driver
If the airbag malfunction is real, the key question becomes whether the restraint failure plausibly caused or worsened your injuries—and that depends on what gets documented early.


