California Airbag Accident Lawyer

Lawyers for Victims of Airbag Injuries

Airbag Accidents and Injuries

"Passenger safety" is still one of the big selling points in automobile marketing today, and airbags may well be the most important passenger safety feature developed in the past several decades. Yet, airbags are not all that safe. While they do save lives, airbag accidents, airbag injuries and airbag deaths occur with surprising frequency. Airbag injuries can result from faulty design or manufacture, and in particular from defects that result in airbags deploying too early, too late or not at all. Airbag injuries can also occur if the device deploys in a low-speed crash that would have caused no injuries, except for the airbags themselves through their sudden explosion and the chemicals that causes them to explode.

Airbag Statistics

With an estimated 177 million airbag-equipped vehicles on the road as of 2006, it is not surprising that airbag accidents and airbag injuries occur with frequency. Airbags are part of a passive restraint system, designed to be used in conjunction with seat belts. Even with occupants wearing seat belts, however, airbag accidents and airbag injuries occur. California ranks third in the nation in seat belt use, according to recent government data, with 93.4% of drivers using them regularly. The nationwide average is 81%. Since 1987, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") reports that 22,466 lives have been saved by airbags. Yet, the NHTSA reports that since 1990, 284 airbag-related deaths have occurred.

As airbag accidents and airbag injuries have increased, the NHTSA has responded by requiring automobile manufacturers to install "smart" airbags, which were designed to reduce airbag accidents, airbag injuries and airbag deaths by adapting to a variety of occupant sizes and positions, as well as to different vehicle speeds and crash angles. However, even after these standards were implemented, airbag defects, related to design and manufacture, still are responsible for airbag accidents, injuries and deaths.

What to Do If You Suffer an Airbag Injury

Seeking medical attention is at the top of the list. Be sure that you or a loved one involved in any accident seek immediate medical help.

Next, try to secure the vehicle and preserve it for inspection by an expert in airbag mechanics and deployment. Consult an experienced airbag attorney as soon as you can after the accident. An effective airbag lawyer with significant resources to fight these cases can help you with the vehicle preservation and with finding and retaining the necessary experts.

Avoiding Airbag Injuries: Government Regulations on Airbag Manufacturers

Airbags are intended to prevent occupants from pitching forward or hitting the vehicle interior when the vehicle in which they are riding goes through a rapid deceleration, which and what happens when a car or other vehicle crashes. The NHTSA has issued regulations to make airbags safer and to prevent airbag injuries and accidents, but these regulations do not require manufacturers to use specific designs. They only require that relatively broad safety standards be met. This means that even if a vehicle manufacturer has complied with the safety standards, it is still possible to establish legal claims against the manufacturers and others for airbag injuries and airbag accidents resulting from design or manufacturing flaws, mistakes in installation and inadequate warnings.

Keep in mind that your airbag may not offer the latest technology. The type of airbag design in your vehicle will depend on the year of your vehicle's model and on how your vehicle's manufacturer adapted its designs to meet federal safety standards. The specific design that your manufacturer uses may be responsible for your particular airbag accident and airbag injuries.

Airbag Injuries and Testing Have Dictated Changes in Airbag Technology

Over the years, advances in airbag technology have lead to changes in the way airbags are manufactured and used. Following are the types of airbags now in use:

• Frontal Airbag Protection from Airbag Accidents and Airbag Injuries.

The first airbags were frontal only. They were in modules located in front of the driver, inside the hub of the steering wheel. Later they were added in front of the front-seat passenger, behind the dashboard. Starting with the 1998 model year, all passenger cars (and with the 1999 model year all SUVs, pick-ups and vans) were required by the NHTSA to have frontal airbags. By the 2007 model year, all light vehicles were required to have advanced frontal airbags. These advanced designs are supposed to take account of more factors-such as weight and position of the occupant - to help to prevent airbag accidents and airbag injuries. However, because the NHTSA requires only that certain general safety standards be met, vehicle manufacturers are free to offer airbags of varying design as long as they meet the minimum safety standards; thus, not all airbags are created equal.

• Side and Roof Airbags as Protection from Airbag Accidents and Airbag Injuries.

Vehicle manufacturers have also offered optional side and roof airbags over the years, as well as side-curtain airbags. Unlike frontal airbags, which are not designed to protect occupants from injuries in rollover accidents, rear-end collisions or side impact crashes, side airbags are often designed to offer additional protection from injuries for such accidents. However, these airbags, too, can cause airbag injuries and airbag accidents for some of the same reasons discussed above.

• Side Airbag Protection from Airbag Accidents and Airbag Injuries.

Side airbags are usually of three types: those that protect the head, the chest, or the head and chest. Side airbags which are supposed to protect primarily the head from airbag injuries are most often mounted in the roof rail above the side windows. They are usually designed to protect an adult's head in a serious side-impact crash. These airbags can offer protection in the form of tubular bags, or as a curtain. The curtain is generally meant to help protect rear and front occupants in a rollover accident. Side airbags, designed primarily to protect adult passengers' chests, are mounted inside a seat or in a door. Those designed primarily to protect an adult's head and chest from injuries in airbag accidents are usually mounted on the side of a seat and are generally larger than a chest-only side airbag design.

How Airbags Work in Airbag Accidents

Airbag deployment is the last in a chain of events triggered by the sudden deceleration of a vehicle. Airbag accidents and airbag injuries can be caused by a failure of any link in this chain or by a poorly designed chain.

• Sensors. First, a sensor (or sensors) detects a sudden deceleration or crash, at speeds anywhere between eight to eighteen miles an hour. Sometimes the sudden deceleration can be detected at speeds upwards of twenty-five mph. Sensors are not designed to trigger an airbag deployment merely from severe braking. Sensors are located in the front of a vehicle, in the passenger compartment, in a door, doorsill or pillar and can be designed to measure deceleration from several angles.

A number of studies suggest that single sensors can misread the need for deployment (if a crash occurs at certain angles, for example), causing an airbag to inflate too early, too late or not at all. Because of the potential for serious airbag injuries and airbag death, some manufacturers install more than one sensor and some even have back-up sensors in case of failures.

Faulty sensors or even too few sensors could be the cause of airbag accidents or airbag injuries. An airbag accident lawyer with the experience to know what to look for, and the resources to employ experts to investigate such events, is vital for successful prosecution of cases arising from airbag accidents and airbag injuries.

• Electronic Control Unit. Once a sensor detects the deceleration for which it is designed, it sends a signal to an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), which itself alerts an inflator within the airbag module. The ECU is like a "command center" and is usually located in the middle of the vehicle for maximum protection. In advanced airbag systems, the ECU processes other information from sensors, such as occupant weight, seat position (forward or back on the seat-track), and whether a seat belt is being used. These factors may affect deployment, speed of deployment and even the force of deployment in airbag accidents.

• Chemical reaction and inflation. Next, an igniter triggers an enhancer. The enhancer during an airbag accident ignites a propellant, which in turn causes a chemical reaction that produces a gas that goes through a filter on its way to inflating a folded airbag. This whole process is measured in milliseconds - less than the blink of an eye. The gas is most often argon or nitrogen (which often produces a rash on occupants who come into contact with the airbag). The manner and speed at which the airbag deploys during an airbag accident can depend on a variety of factors, and can cause airbag injuries. Side airbags tend to inflate more quickly during an airbag accident because occupants are closer to the side interior of thevehicle than they are to the front. The smoke that is seen when an airbag deploys inan accident is likely talcum powder or corn starch, which helps the bag unfold, and is non-toxic.

• Deflation. The airbag deflates instantly through vents in the airbag fabric. The entire process should take less than one second, so occupants' movements should not be restricted after a crash (except with some side airbags, which may remain inflated for a few seconds to help protect occupants in case of a rollover accident). Airbags cannot be reused after they have fully deployed, so one should not drive a vehicle in which an airbag has deployed until the bag has been replaced by someone authorized to do so.

Airbag lawyers with technical knowledge of complicated airbag functions will usually know how to investigate the details of your airbag accident, airbag injuries or airbag death. Your airbag attorney should also, where appropriate, scrutinize the manufacturers' specific airbag designs, its installation, its record of airbag defects and its response to other airbag accidents and airbag injuries cases.

What Can Cause Airbag Injuries?

Airbag Defects as a Cause of Airbag Accidents and Airbag Injuries

Given how complicated airbags are, and how many vehicles with airbags are on the road (177 million in 2006), airbag defects are bound to cause airbag accidents and airbag injuries. An airbag that does not deploy when it is supposed to can cause more airbag injuries and airbag deaths than those that do deploy.

It is likely, as several studies have shown, that more people are injured or killed from airbag defects causing the airbag not to deploy than from faulty deployment. In fact, a detailed study in 2007 by the Kansas City Star newspaper reported that over four times as many people in a six-year period suffered airbag injuries or airbag deaths by the airbags' failure to deploy as by faulty deployment. The airbag defect that causes the failure to deploy can result from many causes, including faulty airbag parts, faulty installation and faulty design. In addition, airbags are not a complete panacea; even when airbags deploy as they are supposed to, thousands of people are still injured and killed.

Airbag Operation During Airbag Injury Accidents

Airbag injuries can be caused by how the airbag reacts in an accident and whether or not it adjusts to the size, weight and position of the occupant, and to the position of the seat.

Because airbags can deploy at speeds as high as 200 mph, the potential for injury in an airbag accident is great. If an airbag deploys too early or too late it can result in serious injuries. If the occupant comes into contact with an airbag that is still inflating, that occupant is hit with an airbag traveling at up to 200 mph. If the occupant is thrown into a bag that is already deflating, that occupant may hit the vehicle's interior instead of the fully inflated airbag.

Various factors affect deployment of advanced airbag systems (installed in all 2006 and later models), which can create the risk of airbag accidents resulting from system failures or airbag defects. Some of these factors include:

• Position of the seat. The position of the seat on the seat track can affect how soon, or late, an occupant comes into contact with the airbag. Therefore, sensors should adjust the speed of the deployment to match the seat's position. If the sensors don't operate properly or if not enough sensors are installed, airbag injuries can be severe.

• Occupant position and weight. Where an occupant is sitting in a vehicle, whether middle, the side, or leaning forward, and how much that occupant weighs, will also affect when and how the occupant will come into contact with the airbag. Sensors should adjust for these circumstances, but indicators are not foolproof. For instance, a lighter person holding a bag of groceries could give the sensor false information about the occupants' forward-moving velocity.

• System failure. Sensors may also detect and make adjustments for the speed at which the vehicle is traveling, the angle of the crash, the speed at which the vehicle decelerates, and whether the occupant is wearing a seat belt. Not wearing a seat belt could cause the occupant to move forward too quickly during the initial deceleration and end up on top of the still inflating airbag, which could lead to death or serious injury. Airbag accidents, airbag injuries and airbag deaths can result from inadequate system designs, incomplete or hard-to-find warnings from the manufacturer, or failing sensors.

• Design of airbag module. The shape and size of the opening of the airbag module can affect deployment, and because the NHTSA only mandates general standards, specific design features are up to individual manufacturers. The manufacturer's choice of design could lead to unnecessary airbag accidents and airbag injuries.

• Tethering and inflation volume. How the airbag is tethered affects how far into the interior of the car it deploys (this distance is also known as the airbag's excursion). The tethering and the inflated volume of the airbags, which can vary by manufacturer, may affect whether an occupant is injured during an airbag accident. Airbag accidents and airbag injuries may be the result of systems that do not take account different types of occupants or occupants' positions (because of design or parts failure, for example) or may be the result of a manufacturer not giving proper warning about potential systems failure.

• Airbag folding. How the airbag is folded will affect deployment speeds and force during an airbag accident. Airbag accidents and airbag injuries may be caused by how an airbag is, or is not folded.

• Material inside airbag. The material the airbag is made of can affect whether or how an occupant is injured by striking the airbag. Lighter material is better. Airbag accidents and airbag injuries may be prevented by using appropriate material to make the airbag.

• Angle of airbag deployment during an airbag accident. Airbag injuries can be affected by the angle of deployment, with more vertical deployments often being better than horizontal. Also important is whether the airbag has lateral-bias flaps, which could direct an airbag to the side if it strikes something while inflating. For drivers, the angle of the wheel may direct an airbag higher or lower on a driver's body. Keeping the airbag away from the head and neck is usually better.

• The rate of airbag deployment. The rate at which the airbag deploys during an airbag accident, which may be different for occupants of different weights or for different seat track positions, can affect whether an occupant is injured. Design flaws, improper inflation, faulty information about the occupants or their seat position can all be causes of airbag accidents, airbag injuries or airbag death.

• The threshold of airbag deployment. The thresholds at which airbags deploy during an airbag injury accident and the speed and force with which they deploy may vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. If these systems do not work correctly or if they were not designed properly, the risk of airbag death and injury is magnified.

• Airbag venting. How the airbag vents after deployment might determine whether an occupant strikes a fully inflated airbag or not. This critical element of an airbag could lead to an airbag injury because of poor design or an airbag defect.

• Sensor design. In order to detect as many variables as possible, some sensors use optical, infrared or electric fields to better gauge airbag deployment. However, the number and type of sensors used by a vehicle manufacturer are different (even across different models) and could also be a determining factor in when and how an airbag is deployed. Airbag defects from inadequate or poorly designed sensor systems can result in airbag injury accidents, and therefore lead to airbag injuries and airbag deaths.

• Limited-purpose of design. Airbags sometimes do not work well in certain accidents, such as when a vehicle hits a pole or tree, when a car goes under a truck or in certain frontal collisions where the deceleration might not be sudden enough to trigger deployment. Also, airbags might not be as effective in rear-end and side impacts and in rollovers. In these cases, improper or inadequate warnings, lapses in design, or faulty equipment can lead to airbag accidents as well as to airbag injuries and deaths.

Injuries Commonly Resulting from Airbag Accidents

The list of possible airbag injuries is long. Following is a partial list of common airbag injuries caused by airbag accidents:

• Death

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

• Spinal cord injury (SCI)

• Chest injury

• Neck and head injury

• Internal trauma

• Loss of sight, either temporary or permanent

• Hearing loss, either temporary or permanent

• Thoracic trauma

• Amputation of fingers and thumbs

• Lacerations

• Concussions

• Arm and leg fractures

• Burns

• Abrasions

Choosing the Right Airbag Accident Lawyer

In an airbag accident, faulty design or operation may be at fault. Different standards may apply to determine liability in such cases, and consulting airbag attorneys with experience in a broad spectrum of personal injury litigation and the resources to handle your case properly is vital. Without the necessary experience, resources and skill, some airbag lawyers may not pursue all claims and compensation available to you following an airbag accident.

If you have suffered an airbag injury, you may be able to recover financial compensation for your pain and suffering, medical bills, rehabilitation, lost wages or income, and property damage. Because of the complicated nature of airbag accidents, you should only consider a well-established, well-staffed and well-financed personal injury law firm to handle your airbag accident claim.

The attorneys at the Reeves Law Group have successfully handled thousands of personal injury cases. We have the resources to finance the handling of airbag accidents, and to utilize the services of medical, economic and engineering experts to determine the cause of the airbag accident and the extent of your damages. If you desire a case evaluation on an accident involving a potentially defective airbag, please call our attorneys at (800) 644-8000, or email us.

Learn more: Visit our products liability information center.