Airbags are designed to protect you from the force of a collision if you are in a motor vehicle accident. However, airbags don’t always deploy when an accident occurs. Sometimes, this is because the airbags were not supposed to deploy, since they are only meant to work if you’re traveling at a certain speed and in a certain direction. However, sometimes airbags fail due to a defect. If your airbags were supposed to deploy during a collision but didn’t, you might be able to hold the manufacturer accountable through a product liability claim.
Product manufacturers have a legal duty to ensure that their products work and to prevent consumers from being harmed because of a product failure. When designers or manufacturers are negligent, consumers can be injured or even killed as a result. This is especially true in the case of a defective airbag, which is supposed to reduce a motorist’s risk of being killed or seriously harmed in an accident. If an airbag fails to properly deploy, it can cause a motorist to suffer far more severe injuries than they otherwise might have.
If you suffered serious injuries in a car accident because your airbags did not deploy as they were supposed to, you should speak with an experienced Duluth product liability lawyer at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers PC today to review your legal options. We offer a free case evaluation, so you can understand the legal process and the potential outcome of your case.
When Should Airbags Deploy?
For airbags to deploy, a crash must happen at a certain speed and in a specific direction. For example, if you are hit from the front, such as in a head-on collision, your front airbags should deploy, depending on how fast you were going. Your airbags should also deploy if you accidentally rear-end another driver at a certain speed.
However, if you were hit from behind or on the side by another vehicle, or if a collision causes your vehicle to roll over, your airbag sensors most likely won’t be triggered.
Reasons Your Airbags Didn’t Properly Deploy
While airbags sometimes don’t deploy for legitimate reasons, manufacturing defects and other technical issues can prevent airbags from deploying when they are supposed to.
Four of the most common reasons why airbags don’t deploy when they should include:
- Faulty sensors – Defective sensors are a common reason why certain airbags do not deploy when they’re supposed to. This could be due to a lack of sensors or sensors with a faulty design.
- Defective electrical parts – If some of your airbags deploy, but others don’t, defective electrical parts and wiring could be to blame. The airbags that fail to deploy might not have gotten the message that a collision has happened. Defective wiring can prevent sensors from communicating with specific airbags.
- Split wires – If the electrical wiring that transmits messages from your airbag sensors to the airbags is severed during a collision, your airbags might not deploy. Poorly designed or badly manufactured wiring may not hold up against the force of a collision.
- Manufacturing flaws – Sometimes, airbags don’t deploy due to a design or manufacturing defect in the actual airbag. So even if the airbag sensors and electrical components are in good working order, the faulty airbag will never get any indication that a collision has occurred.
A full, independent investigation will likely be needed to determine whether your airbags should have deployed and why they didn’t. If your airbags didn’t deploy due to a manufacturing or design defect, you have a legal right to recover damages through a product liability claim or lawsuit against the manufacturer.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Defective Airbag?
If your airbag failed to deploy during a collision, your injury case could be more complex than the average car accident claim. First, if you were hit by another driver, and you can prove that their negligence caused the accident, you can hold the at-fault driver liable for your medical expenses, lost wages, other financial expenses resulting from the accident, and non-financial losses like pain and suffering. As a fault state, Georgia auto insurance laws allow victims of car accidents to file third-party insurance claims or personal injury lawsuits against any motorist who contributed to an accident.
However, if your airbags didn’t deploy, it’s entirely possible that the injuries you suffered are far worse than they would have been if your airbags had worked properly. You could seek additional compensation to cover medical expenses and other losses through a product liability claim or lawsuit. Depending on the cause of the airbag deployment failure, you might be able to hold the automaker who manufactured the car or the airbag manufacturer liable for damages you suffered.
How a Product Liability Attorney Can Help
Proving a product liability claim is more challenging than bringing a typical car accident claim. For your claim to be successful, you will need to hire an experienced car accident lawyer who has the resources to investigate the crash and gather evidence on your behalf.
Your Georgia personal injury attorney may hire accident reconstruction experts and engineers to demonstrate how the crash occurred and why the airbags failed to deploy. They could also bring in medical experts to show that your injuries were more severe, specifically because your airbags didn’t work when they were supposed to.
If you were injured in a collision and defective airbags contributed to your injuries, then you should contact an accident attorney to discuss your case. You can significantly improve your chances of recovering fair financial relief by hiring a skilled lawyer to represent you.
Contact a Duluth Car Accident Attorney Today
At Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers PC, we have extensive experience handling car accident and product liability claims in Georgia. We will fight tirelessly for your right to compensation, so contact us today for a free consultation with a Duluth product liability lawyer.
