About a week ago, my wife was involved in an intersection accident while driving our '01 XC with just 3K miles. Other car ran a stop sign. XC impact was to the left front bumper/headlight area. The bumper was almost totally torn off the
car. Neither the front nor side airbags deployed. The only injury suffered upon impact,was that her head struck the headliner handrail located above the driver window. Except for being shaken up and her head being sore, the doctors say all is O.K.

I have 2 pet peeves: 1) Why didn't any of the airbags deploy? The Owner of the body shop that our Volvo dealer uses says that he's seen several similar
'01 XC impacts, and at least the front airbags deployed. Ours is the first that didn't. WHY??? Is this a manufacturing defect? Is there a blind spot in the bumper sensors?

2) Also, in my opinion, that driver's side hand grip is a royal pain. We're tall people, and we're always hitting it. We don't use it to exit the car; and, we use the grip (near the window buttons) on the door itself for support. Can it be removed?

Thanks to all for your input, and Happy New Year!