My wife got rear-ended in her 2003 vw jetta

car not safe to drive. something caught up on the air bag, very possible it deployed but never broke threw, or, it might be temporary charges did not go off all together, you may have a live explosive charge still unexploded their, call dealer and find out, do not get back in yet. the air bag uses a live small explosive to cause the bag to inflate rapidly and vents the gasses out the back threw a very small opening, this is how they have such force. but safe unless they are defective. your sounds defective, and should be replaced immediately. call a place like http://www.airbagcenter.com and see if they have advice on this. good luck.

They will not set the airbags off unless it is a life saving accident. The sensors will only make the bag go off if you are in a frontal or side impact [ if eqp with side air bags ]. Just hitting a sensor will not set it off as they along with the airbag control module and seat belts must be activated at the same time. This will deploy the airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners. I suggest that you not try to make it deploy as this can cause injury to you from glass breaking or possible delayed deployment resulting in death from a broken neck. Not a wise thing to do!

I seriously would have the car towed to a dealership. The airbags are a ton to replace, and it is incredibly dangerous to even sit in the driverseat of the car if you think the airbag has semi inflated. Let a technician either resolve or remove the airbag, it is certainly not something you want to take a chance on.