car accident lawyer spaishaley when air bag is not working

Do you have a case if your airbags don’t deploy during an accident?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), airbags can inflate in less than 1/20th of a second. And between 1987 and 2017, airbags saved over 50,000 lives. But do you have a case if your airbags do not deploy during a vehicle accident? Yes, you do.

How can I prove that my airbag manufacturer was negligent?

To prove that the car or airbag manufacturer was negligent in your accident injuries, you will need to gather information to back up your claim. To show that an airbag should have deployed, your lawyer will likely turn to expert testimonies from individuals like medical experts, engineers, or product designers.

Who is liable for a defective airbag?

Depending on the facts of your case, the manufacturer of the car or the airbags—or airbag parts—may be held liable for the injuries caused by the defective air bag. This type of a claim is known as a products liability claim. How can a lawyer help me with my case?

What happens when your airbags malfunction?

When airbags malfunction, people can be injured in many ways, such as bruises, broken bones, internal bleeding, concussions or brain injuries, organ damage, or death. Common injuries include: Facial Injuries: When your car crashes, your face may hit the windshield and be terribly damaged, leaving permanent scarring.

Can you sue if your airbag doesn't deploy?

Yes, you can sue if your airbags did not deploy during an accident. However, there might be multiple parties you can sue in such a situation, which is why you should consult an attorney to learn more about your legal options. While airbags should deploy when accidents occur, there are times when they might not.

Can a car be totaled if the airbags didn't deploy?

No, your car is not automatically totaled if the airbags go off. But that doesn't mean you should assume the insurance adjuster is being dishonest if they say your vehicle is totaled after a crash, either.

What should be done if a vehicle was in a crash and the airbags did not deploy?

If you have sustained injuries in an accident and your airbags failed to deploy, contact an experienced auto accident attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can guide you through the insurance claims process and devise the best strategy for you to recover the compensation you deserve.

Who is responsible for airbags not deploying?

If your airbag failed to deploy in a crash, you may have a valid defective airbag case against the automaker. If your airbag did not deploy during a crash and you suffered severe injuries, you may have a viable case against the car manufacturer, airbag manufacturer, or other liable parties.

How much does it cost to replace airbags after an accident?

You can expect a bill of anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000 for your replacement; the average cost is between $3,000 and $5,000. You could be looking at a much higher cost if the deployment of your airbags caused your insurer to declare your vehicle a total loss.

How much does it cost to have airbags replaced?

around $1,000 to $1,500On average, expect around $1,000 to $1,500 per airbag that needs to be replaced. That doesn't take into consideration other parts that need to be changed; just the airbags themselves. Airbag module replacement will run another $600 and up.

Do you have to replace airbags after an accident?

Airbags can't be reused after deploying, but they can be replaced. If your airbags went off after a collision, and the vehicle was not totaled, it's important to make sure your airbags are replaced.

How fast do u have to be going for airbags to deploy?

Typically, a front airbag will deploy for unbelted occupants when the crash is the equivalent of an impact into a rigid wall at 10-12 mph. Most airbags will deploy at a higher threshold — about 16 mph — for belted occupants because the belts alone are likely to provide adequate protection up to these moderate speeds.

Do all airbags deploy in an accident?

Airbags are not supposed to deploy in every accident. Even a properly working airbag will only deploy during certain types of accidents—such as a head-on collision—where the vehicle is traveling above a certain speed.

What happens if air bag doesn't deploy?

If an airbag doesn't deploy, you may be thrown forward and suffer facial fractures, permanent scarring, organ damage, or other injuries. These devices are designed to save lives and prevent injuries during a car crash, but some manufacturer's mistakes result in failure to deploy, causing serious physical trauma.

At what impact do airbags deploy?

Frontal air bags are generally designed to deploy in "moderate to severe" frontal or near-frontal crashes, which are defined as crashes that are equivalent to hitting a solid, fixed barrier at 8 to 14 mph or higher. (This would be equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size at about 16 to 28 mph or higher.)

Can airbags explode after an accident?

Friction burns For an airbag to adequately protect a driver from contact with the steering wheel, it must detect a collision, signal the airbag, and ignite the chemical to explode the bag.

Who You Can Sue If Your Airbags didn’t Deploy ?

The purpose of having airbags is to ease the impact that you would experience from a collision. However, if they did not deploy and failed to do wh...

How Our Law Firm Can Investigate Why Your Airbags Did Not Deploy Properly?

When an accident occurs between one or more vehicles, those who are driving have the right to expect their airbags to deploy right upon impact. The...

Who You Bought Your Vehicle From May Affect Who May Be Held Liable?

When buying a used vehicle from someone else without much knowledge of what the vehicle has been through over the years, filing a lawsuit against t...

What are the most common Reasons Airbags don't Deploy?

A faulty airbag is a hazard for drivers and passengers. Despite their purpose, which is to keep riders safe, airbags don’t always work when they ar...

what kind of Accident-related information will I need to provide?

Photos from the scene of the collision Photos of the airbag, which may show how it was defective Video footage from a dashcam or that you were able...

Reasons Why Airbags May Not Deploy

Airbags are designed to provide drivers and passengers with a soft cushion during a car accident. To do this, an airbag system relies on crash sensors throughout the vehicle. These sensors provide split-second information to a car’s central computer, or electronic controller unit (ECU).

Who Is Responsible When an Airbag Does Not Work?

If a driver or passenger is injured in a motor vehicle accident in which the airbag did not deploy, they may be entitled to monetary compensation through various sources. Of course, if another driver caused the accident, an accident victim can pursue a claim against that party. However, there may be other claims, as well.

Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Console & Associates for immediate assistance

If you have been injured in a car accident after an airbag failed to deploy, contact the dedicated injury advocates at Console & Associates. Even if it is not clear who was at fault in the underlying accident, you may still be entitled to compensation from the vehicle and airbag manufacturers.

Why are airbags not deployed?

The purpose of having airbags is to ease the impact that you would experience from the collision. However, if they did not deploy and failed to do what they are supposed to do, your injuries from the accident might have been more severe.

What to ask if airbags did not deploy?

While having an investigation performed to determine what went wrong and who you can sue if your airbags did not deploy, your car accident attorney will ask you for important information related to the accident and the different injuries you have endured. Some of the information you may be able to provide includes photos from the scene ...

What are the two ways that head on accidents occur?

There are two primary ways in which head-on accidents occur. A driver crosses over a double line. IID Use While Driving Can Cause A Crash Due To Distracted Driving.

Do airbags work when you hit a windshield?

The airbags can save lives while protecting people from hitting the windshield with their heads and flying through the windshield which can tragically result in catastrophic injuries and even death. While airbags should deploy when accidents occur, there are times when they might not. If your airbags did not deploy and you were hurt in ...

Who is liable for defective airbags?

Depending on the facts of your case, the manufacturer of the car or the airbags— or airbag parts—may be held liable for the injuries caused by the defective air bag. This type of a claim is known as a products liability claim.

What is the liability for airbag deployment?

Airbag deployment cases tend to be complex and involve multiple layers of liability. The first layer involves the accident itself and who caused it. Usually, car accidents happen because a driver was careless or did not obey the rules of the road. Legally, this is known as negligence, and the negligent driver’s insurance company is liable for ...

Why is my airbag not firing?

The sensors may not have detected the impact properly. This could happen for several reasons, including manufacturers not installing enough sensors or using improperly designed sensors. There could be a problem with software or the way the airbag firing threshold was calibrated. Defective electrical components.

What happens if an airbag is severed?

If the manufacturer has placed airbag wiring in a place where it is severed during a crash, the airbag will not receive the signal that an impact has occurred. Defects in the airbag module. If the airbag itself is defective, it may fail to deploy even though it has received the proper signals from the sensors.

Why do airbags work?

Airbags protect drivers and passengers from the most serious effects of a frontal impact. When they don’t deploy properly , they can cause occupants to suffer more serious injuries than they would have if the airbags had functioned as they were intended.

What does it mean when a car has front airbags?

For front airbags, this usually means there must have been a frontal impact. A rear-end, side impact or rollover accident will usually not trigger the sensors that cause the airbags to deploy. However, if a car is struck from ...

Do airbags deploy in every accident?

However, airbags are not designed to deploy in every accident, and you will only have a case if the airbag was supposed to deploy and the failure caused you to have additional or more serious injuries. Airbags protect drivers and passengers from the most serious effects of a frontal impact.

What to do if you have an airbag?

The most important thing that you can do is to preserve the evidence related to the airbag. Do not let the airbag or any parts related to it -- like the crash sensor -- be thrown away after the accident. Make sure that the car's computer is not wiped clean, and make sure that you do not let the car be junked or transferred to the insurance company. ...

What happens when an airbag deploys?

When a vehicle's airbag deploys during a traffic accident, it comes out of the dashboard at extremely high speed. The airbag will also be hot and may be covered with dust and chemicals that assist in the deployment. While airbags undeniably save lives and prevent many car accident injuries, they can also be the cause of injuries to drivers ...

Why is it important to deploy an airbag a microsecond late?

Because the timing of the deployment is so critical, deployment of the airbag even a fraction of a second too late could cause serious injury, because now the driver or passenger's head is too close to the airbag.

Why do airbags need to be bigger?

This is because the passenger's air bag is further away from the passenger and so needs to be larger in order to protect the passenger. Additional airbags can be located in the vehicle doors, to be deployed in a side-impact crash. The airbag is connected to a crash sensor, which will deploy the airbag if the car gets into a sufficiently severe ...

What is deployment error?

The most significant deployment error is a malfunction of the crash sensor. There are a number of things that could go wrong with the sensor: the sensor might malfunction and deploy the airbag at the wrong time (in a non-crash situation for example) the sensor might not deploy the airbag at all during a crash.

How fast does an airbag go?

The airbag is connected to a crash sensor, which will deploy the airbag if the car gets into a sufficiently severe crash, which is usually defined as a head-on and near-head-on crash at any speed above approximately 8-to-10 MPH. In a severe crash, the crash sensor will trigger an igniter to produce a gas, generally nitrogen or argon, ...

How close should you be to the steering wheel when using an airbag?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that drivers sit at least ten inches away from the steering wheel.

What happens if an airbag fails?

If an airbag fails and you are injured, you may have a legitimate legal claim against the vehicle manufacturer or company that produced it.

What happens if you don't inflate your airbags?

If the inflators installed were manufactured incorrectly, (they were defective) and didn’t inflate the airbags during a crash, it would be considered a manufacturing defect. The manufacturers could have easily remedied the problem by recalling the ineffective inflators and installing ones that worked properly.

How long does it take for an airbag sensor to inflate?

An airbag crash sensor takes approximately 20 milliseconds to decide whether or not to deploy the airbag. If a sensor decides to deploy an airbag, it takes another 20 milliseconds to inflate it. Both of those happen in approximately 1/50 of a second.

How fast does an airbag inflate?

When a vehicle has been in a car accident, the airbag crash sensor sends a signal to the airbag inflation system which inflates the bag at more than 200 miles per hour.

What is the goal of an airbag?

The goal of an airbag is to slow the forward and side motion of drivers and passengers inside a vehicle after a crash.

Why do car manufacturers believe their cars are safe?

Car Manufacturers Lead Buyers to believe their Cars are Safe. When you buy a vehicle, you trust that the vehicle’s airbags will help protect you during a crash. The confidence you hold is, at least in part, because vehicle manufacturers assert their vehicles are safe.

Do airbags deploy at all?

What vehicle manufacturers don’t say is that their airbags will only deploy under certain circumstances, or that at times their airbags are defective and may not deploy at-all. Unfortunately, airbags are not 100% dependable or effective, and manufacturers know it.