You may be wondering, “My airbags didn’t deploy – can I sue?”
The answer is yes. You may qualify to file a lawsuit over an airbag deployment failure during a car accident which led to injuries such as traumatic brain injuries or soft tissue injuries. An airbag not deploying may be considered a product defect as well as grounds for legal action. You may be able to sue if:
- You suffered injuries in a motor vehicle accident
- An airbag malfunction occurred, causing your airbags to not deploy like they should have
- Your injuries ended up being worse than they would have been had the defective airbag deployed
Parties you may be able to sue include an installer, a vehicle or airbag manufacturer, a dealership, an auto repair technician and more.
When airbags fail to deploy and injure you, with the help of a personal injury attorney at our firm, you can recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish and more.
An experienced car accident lawyer at our firm can help you collect evidence than an airbag failed, causing or contributing to your injuries.
Factors which can influence the value of your case include:
- How severe injuries were
- Income loss
- Medical expenses
- Permanent disability
- Property damage
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement
Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one was injured or killed in an accident due to an airbag’s failure to deploy. We have been representing those injured in accidents since 1990 and have recovered over $750 million for clients. If you can’t afford treatment for your injuries, we can get you to doctors who won’t charge you for treatment until your case is over. We won’t charge you any fee until and unless we recover compensation in your faulty airbag case. Call us today.
Who Is Liable for Faulty Airbags?
Parties who can be held liable for faulty airbags include:
Manufacturers
An airbag, airbag sensor or car manufacturer could be held liable for inadequate instructions, manufacturing defects or design errors. Vehicle manufacturers can be held liable when airbag designs or flawed, or when airbag systems aren’t inspected, installed or designed properly. Airbag manufacturers can be held liable when airbags are defective or when they don’t warn customers about faulty products.
Dealerships
Dealerships may be held liable when they sell you vehicles with defective airbags. A dealership can be considered responsible when a failure to deploy is because of a defect which is present when they sell a vehicle and not because of other factors like improper maintenance or later accidents.
Installers
Installers may be held liable when they improperly install airbags.
Auto Repair Technicians
Auto repair technicians might be held liable when they disconnect systems or reinstall airbags improperly. Repair shops can be held liable when they fail to install replacement airbags correctly or improperly reinstall airbags following inflation.
Distribution Companies
Distribution companies who distribute faulty airbags may be held liable in lawsuits.
What Causes Airbag Failures?
Common reasons for airbag failures include:
- Failed, unresponsive or broken sensors
- Seatbelt sensors which don’t register properly
- Passenger airbag sensors which don’t register passengers’ weight
- Crash sensors which are unplugged, improperly wired or malfunctioning
- Issues with computer controls
- Rips, tears or holes in airbags
- Missing or aged airbags
- Flawed airbag manufacturing or design
- Wiring problems, like faulty or loose connections in seat wiring, or disconnected or damaged wiring which disrupts information flow
- Electrical problems, such as depleted airbag backup batteries or disrupted wiring systems which connect sensors to airbags
- Defective airbag firing mechanisms or modules
How Much Can You Sue For Airbags Not Deploying?
There isn’t a set average settlement regarding cases where airbags fail to deploy in car accidents. The amount will vary significantly depending upon the injury severity, the medical bills involved, any wages lost, any pain and suffering endured, any impact on the life of the victim, the extent which airbag failure contributed to injuries, and the legal case’s specifics. The value of your case can range from five figures to six figures depending upon multiple factors.
Each case is unique, so rather than a general average, the value of your case will get determined based upon your case’s specific circumstances.
A personal injury lawyer at our firm can help you seek compensation for your injuries and losses following an accident involving a faulty airbag system. We can help you recover economic compensation, such as compensation for property damage, lost income and medical bills, as well as non-economic compensation, such as compensation for reduced quality of life, emotional trauma, pain and suffering.
Damages we can help you recover compensation for include:
Medical Bills
Our firm can help you recover compensation for any medical bills related to the injuries you sustained due to an airbag failure. This includes all past and future medical bills, so if you require future treatment for your injuries, we can help you recover compensation for the medical expenses you can be reasonably expected to incur.
Lost Wages
Our firm can help you recover compensation for any wages lost due to being hurt too badly by an airbag failure to work or having to take time off from work to have your injuries treated.
Loss of Earning Capacity
If you have become disabled because of the injuries you sustained due to an airbag failure, we can help you recover compensation for the loss or reduction of your earning capacity represented by your disability.
Pain and Suffering
Our firm can help you recover compensation for any physical pain and mental suffering caused by the injuries you sustained due to an airbag’s failure to deploy. This includes mental and emotional trauma, disfigurement or permanent disability, and damaged relationships.
Wrongful Death
If you have lost a loved one due to an airbag’s failure to deploy, our firm can help you recover compensation for grieving, suffering, medical bills, funeral and burial costs, and loss of income, companionship, love, household services and spousal benefits.
When Can You File an Airbag Failure Lawsuit?
There are situations where you’re likely to succeed in your case and situations where you likely don’t have a case.
Situations where you have a strong case include:
- Severe injuries are directly linked to airbag failure
- There is evidence of a design or manufacturing defect
- Your vehicle has a history of airbag recalls, such as the Takata airbag recall
Situations where you don’t have a strong case include:
- The airbag wasn’t supposed to deploy in your accident, such as in cases where you were going too slowly for the airbag to deploy
- You didn’t experience any injuries
What Should I Do if My Airbags Didn’t Deploy?
If your airbags failed to deploy in your car accident, you should seek immediate medical attention, document your accident details by taking pictures of the damage and scene, tell the police about the failure of the airbags to deploy on the police report, and consult with a car accident lawyer to talk about possible legal action against a vehicle or airbag manufacturer, especially in the case that you sustained injuries which might have been reduced by an airbag deploying.
You should:
- Seek medical attention: Do this even if you don’t think you’ve been hurt or hurt that badly. Some injuries don’t show themselves for weeks or even months. It’s vital to get any hidden injuries documented right away and have a doctor link your injuries to an airbag failure so an insurance company or defendant can’t claim something else injured you.
- Document your accident: Take photos of your vehicle damage, other vehicles involved, as well as the scene of the accident. Note impact details, like collision direction and the speed you were going. Report the failure of the airbag to the police when they arrive.
- Consult with a lawyer: Talk with a personal injury lawyer who handles product liability claims, like the lawyers at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers, to talk about your legal options and determine if you have valid grounds to sue a car or airbag manufacturer.
How a Lawyer Can Help If Your Airbag Didn’t Deploy
To win an airbag failure case, you will need to be able to prove that the airbag failed to deploy because of a manufacturing or design defect rather than the accident force not being enough in order to trigger deployment. For this, you will need the evidence gathering skills of an experienced personal injury law firm like Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers. You’ll also need the help of experts who can testify on your behalf. Our firm works with a network of the finest experts in California who can help prove your case. We can hire expert witnesses such as automotive engineers for you who will analyze your vehicle and testify regarding the failure of your airbag system.
You will also need to be able to prove that the airbag failure worsened or directly contributed to your injuries which you sustained in your accident. Again, our law firm can help you in this regard with our evidence collecting abilities and our network of experts who can testify on your behalf.
A lawyer can help you by:
- Providing expert analysis: An attorney can assess your accident’s circumstances, determining if an airbag failure was the result of a defect and if your legal claim is valid.
- Providing evidence gathering: An attorney can help you to collect needed evidence like expert witness testimonies, vehicle inspection reports, photographs, crash data, video footage, vehicle history and repair records.
- Handling everything and making sure deadlines are met: We can handle every aspect of your case for you and make sure all legal deadlines are met so you can simply focus on recovering from your injuries.
- Providing litigation and negotiation: If needed, your attorney can negotiate a settlement with a manufacturer or represent you at trial.
Contact an Airbag Failure Attorney Today
Call us today for a free case evaluation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident involving an airbag’s failure to deploy. We can help you collect evidence like medical records, video footage and photographs, as well as help you obtain testimony from experts and witnesses.
We’ve been helping accident victims for over 30 years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. Our vast experience in helping those injured by defective airbags will allow us to recover the most compensation possible for you. The only fee we will charge is a percentage of whatever money we recover for you, so if we don’t recover any money for you, you won’t owe us anything. Call us today.
