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DEFECTIVE AIRBAG INJURIES
The airbags in your motor vehicle are considered to be a safety device. The airbag contains a sensor, this sensor is called an airbag ECU, When the signal is ignited, the airbag will then inflate. The inflated airbag provides a cushion, which restrains individuals from hitting the wheel, dashboard area, or the windshield, in the event that a vehicle accident occurs. The law requires motor vehicles to be equipped with an airbag for the driver. This airbag is contained in the steering wheel. Many vehicles have a passenger-seat airbag.
The advanced airbags use sophisticated sensing devices to determine how and when to deploy. The system itself depends on a wide range of factors, including how severe the vehicle crash is. When airbags fail to work as the manufacturer intended, they can be more dangerous than the accident itself.
From production errors and defective components to faulty designs, there’s a number of different reasons why airbags end up malfunctioning. In some cases, these defects cause victims to suffer serious injuries and in rare cases, the victim ends up losing their life. In other cases, both airbag manufacturers and automakers are aware of airbag defects, but they fail to take proper steps to protect the general public.
There’s a number of different airbag-caused injuries that can occur if an occupant is not properly positioned. These injuries also occur if the airbag sensors malfunction; a sensor malfunction can cause inflation to occur too late or too early. Injuries can also occur if the airbag fails to deflate, or if an individual is exposed to chemicals in the airbag.
At Faneuf Law Group LLC., we know firsthand the harm that defective airbags can cause drivers and their passengers. The physical injuries can be debilitating and disfiguring, and the economic damages from loss of work and costly medical bills can be overwhelming. If you have been injured or lost a loved due to a defective airbag deployment, please contact us today at (617) 939-9894 or by completing our online form for a free evaluation of your potential case.
WHEN AIRBAGS FAIL
Since airbags fail for a number of different reasons, it can be a challenge to determine the exact cause of the failure. Due to this, you want to make sure you hire an experienced personal injury attorney - one that can help you if are involved in an accident where the airbag may have caused the injuries or death.
Some of the most common airbag failures are caused by faulty signals in the airbag crash sensors, overly powerful airbag inflators, lack of tethers (straps), and inadequate testing. In these types of cases, the airbags could;
Fail to deploy at all, deploy spontaneously, or deploy when it shouldn’t - like in the case of a minor accident
May deploy too slowly, too fast, or closely - even at the wrong angle
Could explore or rupture on deployment - this may release poisonous gas and powder substances
Can cause metal debris or plastic to deploy
Causes it to catch on fire
Force new or further injuries due to second impact after a collision
When you have any type of airbag failure, it can certainly increase the risk of injuries and deaths, this is especially true when it comes to small adults and children in the vehicle. The majority of all airbag injuries happen immediately after a vehicle crash. Even so, some of those airbag injuries may not appear until days or weeks after the accident.
As it pertains to the most common airbag injuries, those types of injuries could include;
Brain trauma
Chest injuries
Death
Eye injuries
Facial burns, cuts, scarring, or abrasions
Head injuries
Heart injuries
Lung injuries
Neck injuries
Shoulder injuries
Skin removal
Suffocation
Tinnitus and permanent hearing loss
Can AIRBAG MANUFACTURERS Be Held RESPONSIBLE?
When it comes to airbag injuries, you want to make sure you have an experienced airbag injury law firm to represent you.
Here at Faneuf Law Group LLC., our personal injury and product liability attorneys can work with expert witnesses and investigators to help determine if an airbag contributed to your injuries sustained in an accident. It’s important to remember, every scenario is unique and will take time to prove such a case. In a large percentage of airbag injury cases, many parties are involved in that decision.
If you have been involved in an accident where the airbag may have caused you or a family member harm, be sure to reach out to our office by calling 1-617-939-9894.
The history of AIRBAGs and standards
While some of you may be surprised at this, airbags have been installed in cars since the late 1970s. Even so, many of the early designed airbags caused many fatalities. Decades later in 1999, the government finally mandated the use of improved airbags in automobiles, small trucks, and vans in an effort to replace first-generation airbags. During this period, airbag safety was improving, but safety testing procedures were lacking and auto occupants were often harmed during crashes, especially adults of small stature, children and infants.
In 2004, advanced frontal airbags with sophisticated sensing systems that adjusted to occupant size arrived. Since this time, the number of small adult and child injury and death rates have declined, although heightened risks in these size groups still exist today. Side airbags and rollover airbags are not currently government mandated, but most automakers install them since the government requires a certain level of head and torso protection for occupants in side impact crashes.
Between 2007 and 2010, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) drastically revised its crash performance standards, substantially raising the bar for automakers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) also tests automobiles for crash worthiness, crash avoidance and collision mitigation to help ensure consumer safety. NHTSA is the governing agency responsible for closely monitoring overall airbag safety, but devices still malfunction due to faulty design, components and manufacturing processes. In many cases, airbag and auto manufacturers are aware of the defect due to testing or accident reports, but choose to put profits before safety.
Are Airbags safe?
According to NHTSA, From 1987 to 2017, frontal air bags saved 50,457 lives. That’s enough people to fill a major league ballpark.
Frontal and side airbags – known by supplemental restraint systems (SRS) – are designed to cushion the impact between car occupants and the interior of the cab and the roadway. They deploy (inflate) at various output rates in moderate-to-severe crashes to help protect auto occupants from the vehicle’s interior and outside objects. The deployment happens in the first 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) in a frontal crash and within the first 20 milliseconds (0.02 seconds) in a side crash. Properly working airbags deploy with a loud “shot-gun bang” at forceful speeds reaching up to 200 mph. Sometimes, depending on the timing, airbags can also cause a harmful second impact during a collision.
Airbag RECALLS
Takata air bags, installed in tens of millions of U.S. vehicles, are subject to recall due to a safety defect that may cause them to explode and result in serious injury or death.
In the Takata air bag recalls affecting millions of U.S. vehicles, NHTSA ordered automakers to accelerate their repair programs to fix all affected vehicles as quickly as possible. This included phasing and prioritizing when the replacement parts are required to be available to consumers since it was not possible for all of the replacement parts to be available right away and some vehicles were at much higher risk of a dangerous air bag explosion than others.
CONTACT US FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
If you have questions regarding your airbag injury or right to a potential claim, please call us at 617-939-9894 or complete our online form to speak to one of our legal representatives.