15.11.2026 11:42
Cihat Çiftçi, who crashed the zero-kilometer electric car he bought in Bursa into barriers, called the company after the airbags did not deploy. Çiftçi, who said he received the response from customer service that 'Our vehicle is smart; it did not deploy because you did not need protection,' filed a lawsuit for 1 million lira in non-pecuniary damages. According to his lawyer, the expert report also did not find it normal that the airbags did not deploy in the vehicle, which was written off as a total loss.
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In BURSA, Cihat Çiftçi (28) had an accident with the brand-new electric vehicle he purchased last year. When the airbags of his vehicle did not deploy, Çiftçi called the company's customer service; after officials told him that 'the airbags did not activate because the accident was not severe,' he filed a lawsuit against the company. Cihat Çiftçi said, 'The response I received when I explained it to customer service was, "Our vehicle is smart. In the incident that occurred, the airbag did not deploy because the driver and passenger did not need protection."' Çiftçi, through his lawyer, filed a lawsuit for 1 million lira in non-pecuniary damages against the company.
The accident occurred on November 30, 2025, near the Yıldırım exit of the Bursa Ring Road. Cihat Çiftçi, a construction contractor in the city, lost control due to rain while driving toward İnegöl in the brand-new electric vehicle he had purchased about 3 months before the incident. The swerving vehicle spun around and hit first the right, then the left, and then the right barriers again before stopping. Çiftçi's friend İ.A., who was beside him, was slightly injured and taken to hospital. Çiftçi, who was unharmed, noticed that his vehicle's airbags had not deployed. The next day, Cihat Çiftçi called the company's customer representative and, after the company's approach, consulted his lawyer and filed a lawsuit for 1 million lira in non-pecuniary damages.
HE HAD BOUGHT IT BECAUSE IT WAS RELIABLE
Explaining what he experienced, Cihat Çiftçi said, 'One of my reasons for buying this vehicle was really that it was said to be reliable. When I researched, I indeed saw it as a reliable vehicle, and in my research the people around me also gave recommendations in the same way.'
Regarding the accident, Çiftçi said, 'I bought my vehicle in August 2025, and I had the traffic accident in November 2025. I was traveling on the Bursa highway. While heading toward İnegöl, on a slight water flow—let us not even call it a puddle—the vehicle suddenly threw itself and began to spin around and hit the barriers. Although my vehicle suffered major damage to its chassis and other areas, none of the airbags deployed. This disturbed me at the moment of the accident. My friend beside me was also wearing a seatbelt in the same way, but as a result of the impacts he received in the lumbar area, we had him urgently referred to the hospital. Despite all this, the airbag did not deploy in any way. When we contacted the customer representatives, they said the reason the vehicle's airbag did not deploy was that the vehicle had not received an impact at a level that would require protection for us. In other words, they explained that the impact would not harm us. The response I received was, "Our vehicle is smart. In the incident that occurred, the airbag did not deploy because the driver and passenger did not need protection." However, it is not possible for a person to remain fixed in a vehicle that spins around and hits barriers. That is, no matter how much the seatbelts hold us, our head areas automatically move to the right and left. In the accident, I also hit my head on the left side, and my friend beside me hit his lumbar area by swaying right and left,' he said.
Stating that he had lovingly bought the vehicle he crashed, Çiftçi said, 'After the customer representatives of my luxury vehicle said regarding the impact that "the airbags did not deploy because you would not be harmed," I applied to legal remedies. I do not regret buying the vehicle, but because I have seen this defect in terms of safety measures, I have somewhat more fears about getting into the same vehicle again,' he said.
EXPERT: IT IS NOT NORMAL FOR THEM NOT TO DEPLOY
Stating that he was surprised when Cihat Çiftçi explained the situation, his lawyer Özgür Coşkun said, 'As a result of a traffic accident he experienced, we noticed and determined that although a luxury vehicle was involved in a very severe accident, the airbags did not deploy in this accident. When our client applied to the company, he applied to us after they made contradictory statements to him such as "You were not harmed in the vehicle anyway, that is why the airbags did not deploy." We applied to the court and immediately requested an examination of the vehicle. As a result of the examination we had conducted, it was also established by the expert report that, although the vehicle's impact absorbers were torn off from the vehicle, all of its chassis were bent, and every area of the vehicle received impact, the airbags did not deploy,' he stated.
Noting that after the accident his client's unease about vehicle safety increased, Coşkun said, 'When our client experienced this accident, he was very uneasy. Because our client had bought a luxury vehicle relying on its safety systems, but he saw that the vehicle he bought did not meet his expectations. His friend, who was with him as a passenger, was also referred to the hospital on the same day and obtained the medical reports. However, as a result of this accident, the thought arose in our client: "Which vehicle will I buy, which vehicle will I trust from now on?" Even now, no matter which luxury vehicle he gets into, the thought "Could this happen to me again?" frankly still leaves question marks in his mind,' he said.
LAWSUIT FOR 1 MILLION LIRA IN NON-PECUNIARY DAMAGES
Lawyer Coşkun said, 'Customer service is saying this: "It is normal that the airbag did not deploy in this accident anyway." However, our client thinks that, in relation to this accident he experienced, the airbag should have deployed even though it is a luxury vehicle. First of all, we had a determination made by the court. In the determination we had made, we stated that although this vehicle was declared a total loss, its chassis were affected, and there were impacts all over the vehicle, it was not normal for the airbags not to deploy and that this was a hidden defect. The expert report obtained similarly showed us that it was not normal for the airbags not to deploy in an accident of this severity. Upon these determinations, we filed a lawsuit for 1 million lira in non-pecuniary damages on behalf of our client at the Civil Court of First Instance,' he said.
Stating that the vehicle was declared a total loss as a result of the determination, lawyer Coşkun added that Çiftçi now drives a vehicle of another brand and that the non-pecuniary damages lawsuit they filed continues.
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