Airbags are essential safety devices meant to keep occupants safe in the case of a car accident. When they do not work, the harm inflicted is as bad. Sometimes, it’s worse than the collision itself.
Faulty airbags have caused many injuries and deaths. You might have the right to sue the maker if you’ve been injured by an airbag malfunction. These cases typically involve specialized analysis and technical evidence. A qualified airbag injury lawyer can assist in reviewing the evidence, determining responsible parties, and crafting a plan to hold the manufacturer liable.
Here’s what you should know about suing the manufacturer of a defective airbag.
Knowing What Constitutes an Airbag Defect
Airbags are designed to inflate upon impact in a collision, soften the blow, and lower the chances of death from serious injuries. A flaw in this mechanism can occur in a variety of ways.
Some airbags do not deploy when they are supposed to, while others deploy with too much force or in low-speed collisions. Others can release toxic gases or shrapnel when they inflate, making a safety feature into a hazard.
Design flaws are defects in the way that the airbag was designed. Manufacturing flaws occur when something was done improperly at the factory, e.g., with the wrong materials or incorrect installation. The fourth type of defect, labeled as a marketing flaw or failure to warn, involves a failure to properly instruct users or to alert consumers to known hazards.
When any of these problems result in harm, the maker—or, in a few instances, the seller or distributor—can be held responsible under product liability statutes.
Legal Basis for Suing
In U.S. product liability law, victims of defective products can file claims in strict liability, negligence, or breach of warranty. Strict liability is employed most frequently in airbag cases because it does not demand that the victim prove the manufacturer was negligent—just that the product was flawed and injured when used properly.
In order to successfully sue a defective airbag, the victim usually needs to establish the following:
- The airbag was faulty as a result of design, manufacturing, or insufficient warnings.
- The defect was present when the product left the hands of the manufacturer.
- The defect resulted in the injury.
The Role of Recalls and Investigations
In most instances, a faulty airbag is already recalled or under investigation. As an example, the huge Takata airbag recall involved millions of vehicles from several automaker brands. Those airbags had a tendency to explode when deployed, shooting metal shards into the cabin.
Federal agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) monitor defect complaints and order safety recalls. If your injury is to a recalled product, that data can bolster your case.
Even if the airbag is not recalled at this time, though, you can still have a case. Your lawyer will find out if the defect is alone or if it’s part of a larger trend of failures, which might result in more extensive litigation.
What to Expect in the Settlement?
Victims of defective airbags can expect to receive various types of compensation. These can be:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
In cases involving gross negligence, punitive damages can also be awarded. These damages are meant to punish the manufacturer and act as a deterrent to similar conduct in the future.
Every case is unique, and the compensation available will depend on the severity of the injuries, the impact on your life, and the strength of the evidence.