1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6    View All If airbags were deployed, although they are designed to save lives, the impact of an airbag can socket the spine/skull into violent hyperextension. Even if an accident occurred at a lower rate of speed and there was minimal amount of damage to the vehicle, injury may very well have occurred. Many bumpers in late model cars can withstand 5 or 10 mph collisions and contract/expand showing very little outwardly noticeable damage. Dollar amount of damage to a vehicle is a very poor way to guage if there was sufficient force to cause an injury to an occupant of the vehicle. Impacts as low as 5 or 6 mph can lead to injuries.