My mother-in-law was involved in an accident with her 97 Maxima. The airbags went off, and here sunroof popped out. We were told that the sunroof pops out when the airbags are released so that the fumes from the bags can escape. Does anyone know if this is actually a safety feature or did the sunroof pop out from the impact? Thanks.
My best semi-educated guess:
Popped out from the impact or possibly the increase of pressure in the vehicle from the bags inflating. I don’t know if that alone could cause it to pop out though. I’m guessing the impact.
When I crashed, my sunroof disintegrated into a zillion (nice, rectangular, nondangerous, safety-glass) pieces. I don’t recall whether it was open or closed before impact, but since it was a cool day I’m guessing closed. We supposed the glass shattered because of the stress to the frame.
Depending on the force and direction of the impact, twisting of the car’s frame may have caused the sunroof to come free of its mount. I don’t buy the “fume escape” idea because most cars lack sunroofs.