Airbags did not fire

HOLDEN, I'm sure, would have told you that there are sensors built into your car that measure things such as the deceleration of the car in a crash and feeds that information to the main computer, which in turn decides if the crash is severe enough to warrant the deployment of the airbags. If the computer decides the severity of the crash exceeds the capability of the body structure and seatbelts to cope, the airbags will be triggered. That your wife walked away unscathed should tell you that the car performed well in the crash, and that the airbags weren't needed. In normal circumstances, the airbag warning light comes on when the ignition is turned on and goes off again once the system goes through its diagnostic check routine and the engine is started. If the warning light stays on, there is a problem.