‘It felt like a huge explosion:’ Mississauga man says airbags were deployed on highway for no reason

Although it's rare, airbags can deploy due to rough road conditions or some other incident triggering airbag sensors and cost drivers big. Pat Foran has more.

An Ontario man said when he was driving his pickup truck, his airbags went off for no reason, almost causing him to have an accident.

“It was terrifying,” said Victor Sanchez.

It was in February when the Mississauga resident said he was driving his 2025 Ram 1500 truck.

“I was driving on the highway going home early in the morning from work when my airbags went off with no collision. It was both my airbag curtains and both my seat airbags,” recalled Victor Sanchez.

Sanchez told CTV News the loud bang startled him and almost caused him to lose control.

“It felt like a huge explosion. My hazard lights went on, and I was disoriented,” Sanchez said and added, “It was pretty scary to be honest.”

Sanchez said he was glad it’s a newer truck and is still under warranty because he was told replacing the airbags and other components of the safety system would cost $15,000 to $20,000.

“To replace the airbags, the headliner needs to be replaced, seats need to be repaired and seatbelts and modules,” said Sanchez.

He took his truck to his dealer and was told there would have to be an investigation. After receiving no updates for over a month, CTV News reached out to Stellantis Canada on Sanchez’s behalf.

A spokesperson said in a statement, “Following a comprehensive review by Stellantis’ service, warranty, and engineering teams, data from the vehicle’s Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) module was successfully retrieved and analyzed. The analysis indicates the vehicle was beginning to tip, and multiple onboard systems predicted a rollover event.”

“Based on this data, the airbag deployment was commanded and operated as designed, and no manufacturing defect was identified. As a result, the condition does not meet the criteria for warranty coverage.”

The statement then pointed out what repairs are not covered as stated in the 2025 Ram Warranty Booklet.

They include repairs required due to fire, accidents, abuse, negligence, objects striking your vehicle, carrying corrosive materials (such as chemicals, acids and fertilizers), misuse (such as driving over curbs, overloading, spinning wheels, etc.), racing or participating in a racing event, improper disconnection of components, modifying the exhaust system and tampering or making adjustments that do not comply with FCA specifications.

Sanchez is worried he will now be out of pocket for the repairs and the rental car he’s been driving. He didn’t expect such a large repair bill on a newer vehicle.

“We are talking about a $90,000 truck. It was my dream truck. I worked five years to buy it, and I haven’t been able to use it, and I am still responsible for car payments and insurance,” Sanchez said.

Airbags have been standard equipment in vehicles in Canada since 1999 and generally work as planned saving lives and preventing serious injuries.

Although it’s rare, airbags could deploy without warning due to rough road conditions or some other incident triggering airbag sensors.