Injuries from Defective Airbags

cartwrightlaw - February 28, 2022 -

Injuries from Defective Airbags

Ever since the invention of the automobile, manufacturers have either on their own or by law endeavored to improve the safety features of these vehicles. One of the safety features in modern cars is airbags, which are designed to prevent serious injuries from a car accident.

However, as much as airbags can prevent serious or catastrophic injuries, the defective ones can also cause their own serious or catastrophic airbag injuries. When a vehicle is in a sudden collision with another vehicle or object, the airbags in the vehicle are designed to activate and inflate a balloon-like device to cushion the driver or passenger from the impact of the collision.

Unfortunately, however, if there is a defect in the airbag release mechanism, this could cause injury of its own. This is because an airbag comes out of its housing units at an incredible speed of up to 200 miles per hour. However, if the airbag system is defective, that speed could be more, causing substantial injuries to the body impacted by the inflated airbag.

Common Injuries from Defective Airbags

At The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc., we help clients who have suffered various types of injuries caused by defective airbags, including the following:

The most common types of injuries caused by airbag activation are skin burns and abrasions. As noted above, airbags inflate at incredible speeds, and when the airbag contacts a human body, it causes major friction between the bag and the passenger’s skin. The friction creates heat and, in combination with the nylon of the airbag, the textured surface of the airbag can cause burning and scarring.
The airbag on the driver’s side is located at the center pad of the steering wheel. For this reason, the excessive force of a defective airbag has been reported to cause sprains to wrists and arms. In even more severe cases, drivers may suffer fractures or broken bones around the wrist and arm.
The high-speed deployment of the airbags that strike a driver or passenger’s face are known to cause neck and head trauma, which is often directly linked to the airbag’s defect or malfunction. Head trauma can lead to brain injury or fracturing of the skull.
Chemical burns and respiratory injuries can also result from airbag malfunction and deployment. Most airbag systems are filled with air using an inflator which produces harmless gas to ignite and inflate the airbag when functioning properly. However, if there is a defect in the system, there is a chance for small quantities of the propellant to escape and cause injuries.
It is also not uncommon for the driver or passenger impacted with a deployed airbag that is defective to suffer injuries to the abdomen and chest upon deployment of the defective airbag. In some cases, the victim may end up with spinal damage or rib fractures.
Other injuries that have been reported as being caused by defective airbags include dislocation and fracturing of the lower and upper limbs, facial abrasions, eye injuries, and broken jaws or necks.

Speak with Our San Francisco Airbag Injury Attorneys

If you have been injured in an accident involving a defective airbag system, contact us today for a free case review. The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc. handles complex defective products like these. Call: (415) 851-6486.