> I've often wondered if Tesla is gaming the figures by only deploying the airbags in really bad crashes, whereas other manufacturers might deploy the airbags f

> I've often wondered if Tesla is gaming the figures by only deploying the airbags in really bad crashes, whereas other manufacturers might deploy the airbags for pretty minor bumps. So even as a Tesla "hater", but as a paramedic, first generation airbags were very simplistic. Essentially, "if speed > x mph and collision = true then deploy". Nowadays, advanced airbag systems do calculations based on speed, G forces, angle of intrusion, lateral movement, etc., and decide "will the airbag system cause or risk more injury?", i.e. "can the passenger restraint system (i.e. seatbelts) do sufficient work to minimize injury". So you can get relatively low speed collision with heavy lateral movement causing a deployment, but some other deployments at 30mph not deploying airbags. All that being said, I do not believe Tesla (or any other manufacturer) so describe accidents only in terms of airbag deployment. Other factors like speed, G force felt, did seatbelt pretensioners activate, should all be sufficient to categorize as an accident.