Fake Air Bags, Fatal Consequences

Chris Halsne KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter

A lengthy KIRO Team 7 Investigation exposes a widespread, dishonest and deadly secret: You may not know if your car really has airbags until it's too late.

Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovers something no federal or state agency has ever attempted: how often phony airbags play a role in killing drivers.

Vik Lim is the Van Gogh of fake airbags. Our undercover investigation discovered his shop specializes in repairing wrecked car interiors, cutting out previously deployed airbags, then gluing the shells back together.

Chris: "What's the secret?" Lim: "Just filling 'em up, just sanding, polishing ... smooth it out."

Lim is surprisingly proud of his cosmetic fixes. He leaves nothing inside the airbag compartment, but most consumers can't tell.

Consumers like the late Damaris Gatihi. The 50-year-old nursing assistant died Valentine's Day on Interstate 5. After getting bumped from behind, her car spun around and another vehicle hit her head on.

"The airbag did not come out. I said son of a b----," said Gatihi's brother, James Gatihi.

James Gatihi says his sister believed her newly-acquired car had airbags.

"There is no way she would have driven that car if she knew the airbags were not on or if she knew anything was wrong with that car. She wouldn't get in it, period. That's the way she was," he said.

"The airbag mechanism is disconnected in the back. Here's the plug for it right here," said a mechanical expert.

KIRO Team 7 Investigators dismantled Gatihi's totaled 1998 Toyota Corolla.

The airbags had been cut out year ago, covers glued to make them look functional.

We traced two fake airbags inside back to Vik Lim's shop, S-M Auto on Rainier Ave. Gatihi's brother Kenny says he personally went with Damaris to S-M after she bought the car from them, specifically to have the airbags checked out.

"I ask him is everything OK? He said 'Oh yah. We replaced everything,'" Kenny Gatihi said. "We thought the airbags were intact." Chris: "Your sister believed there were airbags in that car?" Kenny Gatihi: "That was my impression too, definitely."

An autopsy shows Damaris Gatihi died from massive bleeding in the heart. She was wearing her seat belt, but still, her body buckled the steering column. Experts tell us with airbags, Gatihi's accident may have been survivable.

Her brothers are tormented by that possibility.

"Now, we'll never know. We'll never know exactly what happened and if the airbags were there, what could have happened," said James Gatihi.

"That's probably what caused the death of my sister. She could be alive today," Kenny Gatihi said.

KIRO Team 7 Investigators paid Vik Lim a visit. We had tough questions about his handiwork and what he told Damaris Gatihi.

Chris: "I think she thought it had airbags in it?" Lim: "No. [Coughs] Uh, we sold the car 'as is.' There was an aftermarket airbag, uh, cover. It didn't have any airbags in it.

Lim says Gatihi should have known there were no airbags in her Toyota, but can't prove he told her.

Chris: "They look like they're there, right?" Lim: "Yah. The airbags look. They're not there. They're not going to deploy when you get in an accident." Chris: "You don't feel like you have any responsibility for her death?" Lim: [Silence.]

His silence told us more than his words.

Because of our investigation, Vik Lim is in hot water with several state agencies: Department of Licensing and Washington State Patrol.

We'll keep you up to speed as his troubles mount.