Why Aren't Impala Airbags Deploying?

There's a lot of news about airbags that can hurt you after a crash, but General Motors would like to remind you they can also make airbags that won't deploy at all. GM is recalling 308,000 Impalas in the USA and Canada that could have blown fuses resulting in non-responsive airbags. GM started investigating the issue after an employee noticed cluster gauge issues and "passenger presence sensors" with no passenger present.

At first, GM thought it had that covered:

"engineers used a special tape on the wires of the module under the passenger seat to protect the wires from rubbing against anything. The tape process was put into production in February 2010 but six years later owners of Impala cars built before 2010 were still complaining about problems."

Ohhh, a special tape? Maybe next time just stick (get it?) with good ole- duct tape. Long story short, the wires are chafing insde the "special tape".

Chafed wires → short circuit → blown fuses → bye-bye airbags.

The recalled Chevy Impalas were built from April 25, 2008 to February 16, 2010.