Airbags: Possible Injury in Preventative Safety
Over the years, airbags have become a mandatory safety device in all new cars. There is no question that along with using a seat belt, many lives have been saved due to airbags. Airbags are meant to prevent the occupant's head from striking a part of the vehicle and spread the force of the impact across their body. Due to the speed of airbag deployment and the chemicals used, there is always the possibility that airbags do more harm than good. Believe it or not, airbags often do not operate properly causing serious injury and deaths that could have easily been prevented. Philadelphia product liability lawyer Jeffrey Reiff and the experienced Pennsylvania product liability lawyers at Reiff & Bily have been researching and handling automotive and defective airbag cases for many years.
Airbags were developed in the 1950’s, but it was not until the 1980’s that airbags became mandatory in new cars. The driver’s airbag is found within the steering wheel, which protects the driver from hitting the wheel or dashboard. During an auto accident, four collisions may occur: (1) between the vehicle and the other object; (2) between the occupants (restrained or unrestrained) and the interior of the vehicle; (3) between the occupants’ organs and the enclosing body wall or cavity (such as the brain and skull); and (4) between occupant(s) and any loose objects in the vehicle.
Airbags and seatbelts are meant to protect collisions between the occupant(s) and the interior of the car. Airbags work when the car decelerates very quickly, as during a collision, and a sensor triggers a chemical reaction that produces a non-toxic gas that inflates the airbag. When the airbag deflates, dust and gasses are released into the car. These gasses and dust can cause asthma, chemical injuries (burns), or other irritations and breathing problems. The entire process of inflating and deflating the airbag takes less than a second.
Airbags need to react extremely fast to a collision, especially if an occupant is not wearing a seat belt. Airbags can deploy at over 200 MPH to protect an unrestrained occupant. Since airbags have to deploy so fast, injuries could occur from the extreme speed at which the airbag inflates. Injuries can occur to the eyes, head, chest, or limbs and could result in scaring, paralysis, blindness, loss of hearing, broken bones, severance of a body part, or even death.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Nissan’s 1994 and some 1995 Altima passenger-side airbags caused severe eye injuries. These airbags were said to be too powerful and were recalled. The airbags were replaced with a “depowered” model. Airbags that are “too powerful” are required so the airbag inflates fast enough to prevent injury to the non-restrained occupant(s), but they can cause greater injury than the collision itself.
Height plays a role in the severity of airbag injuries. WebMD reports that occupants who are taller or shorter than those of medium height (5 foot 3 inches to 5 foot 11 inches) have a 4-5% greater risk of serious injury. Airbags are not normally tested on shorter or taller occupants, leaving them at risk. Height affects the distance the driver is from the wheel. The distance between the occupant and the airbag changes how the airbag impacts the body during deployment. Every airbag deployment is unique so there is no precise distance to prevent possible injury.
The Pennsylvania product liability and Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at the Philadelphia law firm of Reiff & Bily are currently working on a case where a below-average height female driver lost her eye due to an improperly designed airbag. The car only sustained minor damage, but the injury to the driver is far worse than what would have happened if the airbag had deployed with less power and if airbags were tested for shorter occupants. The simple pleasure of sight was taken away because of an airbag. Pennsylvania product liability attorney Jeffrey Reiff refers to this type of driver or passenger as the "forgotten victim". When it was possible for the manufacturer to protect all, apparently they forgot that the airbag should also protect individuals below the statistical average size. For other types of product liability, visit our Pennsylvania product liability website.
Dr. Smock studied several car crashes and found that the position of the driver is very important to airbag injuries. Having an arm in front of the airbag, like when in the process of turning the wheel, could cause fractures to the arm even in a low speed accident due to airbag deployment. Other injuries include brain hemorrhaging if the face comes in contact with the wheel cover causing paralysis/quadriplegia or death, and hand injury or loss of finger if a hand is over the wheel cover or horn before airbag deployment.
According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 1990 to 2001, 215 deaths were caused by airbags inflating in low-severity crashes. These deaths include seventy-two drivers, ten adult passengers, 111 children between the ages of one and eleven, and twenty-two infants. Other airbag defects include use of cheap or defective sensors, non-deployment or inadvertent deployment (unnecessary deployment) of the airbag, airbags without tethers (straps sewn inside the air bag which physically prevent the airbag from extending all the way to the occupant), inferior algorithms (mathematical formulas used to determine if and when to deploy the airbag), venting and folding defects (mistakes in the number, size, or location of gas vents and in the pattern used to fold the airbag), improper airbags (size or type) or lack of airbags, failure to test airbags, inadequate consumer warnings or failure to warn of known dangers, and failure to incorporate technology that could reduce the risk of airbag related injuries.
Advanced airbags are designed to meet the needs of the occupant in a variety of specific crash situations. Depending on the design, the system automatically determines if, and with what level of power, the airbags will inflate. The appropriate level of power is based on sensor inputs that can typically detect: (1) occupant height; (2) seat position and distance; (3) seat belt use; and (4) crash severity.
To reduce airbag injuries, always wear your seat belt. Try to sit as far back as you can to allow proper deployment of the airbag. Shorter drivers should move the seat back and tilt the wheel slightly to allow space and refrain from leaning forward. Most importantly, refrain from honking the horn during an accident and try to hold the steering wheel from the side so arms are not in the way of airbag deployment. It is always safer to keep children in the back seat and never put a baby seat in the front seat. For more information about child safety, visit the University of Oklahoma’s Police Department website.
If you are in need of an attorney because you or a family member has suffered a serious injury as a result of a defective airbag, please call the experienced Pennsylvania product liability and personal injury lawyers at the law firm of Reiff & Bily.
