If an auto accident happens and the airbag is deployed, it will come out at a very high speed. It can be covered with chemicals, dust, and will be hot. This practically means that, even if airbags do save lives and prevent countless injuries, they can be the cause of some injuries. As a result, injuries caused by airbags can be tied into personal injury claims.
How Does Your Airbag Work?
Airbags are roughly the size of beach balls when they are fully inflated, but can be larger. They are connected to crash sensors, which is what makes them deploy when crashes happen. Basically, if the speed of a vehicle is over 10 miles per hour, it is a very good possibility car airbags will deploy.
The technical side of how airbags work can be very complicated. But, besides what we already mentioned, we should mention that airbags quickly deflate after they protect you so you can move and get out, if possible.
Problems With Airbag Deployments
According to top automobile accident lawyer Regan Zambri Long, problems with airbag deployments can lead to disastrous results and very serious injury claims against car manufacturers. The really significant problem is the crash sensor malfunction. This can be affected by several different things, like:
- Not deploying an airbag at all.
- Deploying airbags too late.
- Not deploying all airbags.
- Deploying when airbags are not needed.
Simply put, timing is very important with airbag deployment. If this is not right, huge problems can appear.
Airbag-Related Injuries
Serious injuries can appear because of malfunctioning crash sensors. Sometimes, even death can appear. Basically, any airbag deployment could lead to injuries, even when it is proper.
Suing For Airbag-Related Injuries
You can file personal injury claims due to malfunctioning airbags. Whenever this is the situation, the attorney has to prove the fact that an airbag component did not work as it should have. The fault can be connected to the manufacturer or even the design of the airbag. Product liability could even come into play.
What you should understand is that when you are injured because of the deployment of the airbag, you are not necessarily going to be able to file a claim. You can only do this when some problems appeared. In the event that airbags were responsible for your injury, the most common parties at fault are:
- The manufacturer of the vehicle
- The manufacturer of the airbag
- The people or company that handled the replacement, maintenance, or inspection of the car’s airbag.
Final Thoughts
As you can easily notice, airbag-related injuries are very complex. It is quite difficult to handle all the legalities of the process and file a successful injury claim when you do not understand the law. It is always important to hire an experienced car accident attorney whenever the airbag is suspected of being the cause of your injury.
As an extra useful tip, make sure to get medical treatment and try to preserve evidence as much as possible. When the airbag was deployed, do not take it out. Let experts take a look so they can identify potential problems that could have led to the accident.