Research shows that Airbags save countless lives. But airbags, particularly side airbags, have also caused injuries. Some vehicles with side impact airbags or side curtain airbags have proven to be unsafe and a number of cars with side airbags have been recalled. Airbags that deployed unexpectedly, causing harm to drivers or passengers, have led to defective airbag lawsuits.
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Airbag Failure
Airbags are an integral part of car crashworthiness. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that airbags save thousands of lives each year, yet airbags that fail to deploy or do not open in accidents (and sometimes open without cause) also cause serious injuries, some of them fatal. Because airbags are designed for the average man, many women, children and the elderly are at risk.
A 2007 study (Craig Newgard, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University) found that for drivers taller than 6 foot 3 inches, air bags were associated with a 5 percent greater risk of serious injury and for drivers shorter than 4 foot 11 inches, air bags were associated with a 4 percent increase in the risk of serious injury.
Side Airbags and Curtain Airbags
Side airbags are designed to protect occupants in side impact crashes such as at intersections or when a vehicle veers off the road and crashes side-on into an object such as a tree or pole. They also protect passengers in rollover crashes or when two vehicles have an adjacent angle crash.
Curtain airbags are designed to protect the head for front-seat occupants (and back seat occupants in some vehicles) during a side crash. When deployed, curtain airbags form a cushion between the occupant's head and the window and they may protect in a rollover.
Airbag Injuries
A significant number of airbag accidents result in eye, neck, head and brain injuries as well as spinal and torso injuries. Generally, there are three ways that an airbag can cause an injury:
- The manufacturer fails to install air bags in the vehicle;
- The air bags fail to deploy (open);
- The airbags deploy in a low-impact crash and cause death or injury.
The third category is the most common and constitutes most airbag liability lawsuits. The airbag was either incorrectly installed, the manufacturer neglected to include proper safety instructions, or the airbag was defective. If the airbag is defective in design or manufacture, a claim can be made under strict liability laws where the injured plaintiff does not need to prove negligence.
Airbag Recalls
In 2004 more than 1.4 million recalls were related to airbag safety problems, up from about 350,000 recalls the previous year. Many of these airbag recalls were due to wiring problems that could result in the air bags being deployed for no reason.
Honda issued a recall in 2008 because its airbags opened with so much force that metal parts of the airbag assembly could blast through the airbag, injuring a passenger in contact with the airbag. In May 2011 the Honda airbag recall expanded to 833,000 vehicles that may have been equipped with a faulty airbag. Meanwhile Hyundai issued a recall for 2007-2009 Elantra sedans for an airbag system sensor that could cause the airbags to open incorrectly, increasing the risk of injury to smaller passengers (i.e., women, children and the elderly) in the event of an accident.
Airbags Deploying Without Cause
After receiving several complaints of the airbags opening without proper cause in the 2002 and 2003 Jeep Liberty models, the NHTSA opened an investigation that affects almost 400,000 vehicles. Ford Motor Company recalled around 1.2 million 2005 and 2006 Ford F150 pickups trucks for the same reason, although the problem was found to be a wiring issue inside the steering wheel. In August 2011, Chrysler posted a recall of almost 300,000 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan minivans over a similar problem.
The NHTSA conducts ongoing investigation and research on a variety of crashworthiness issues including potentially defective airbags. In 1997 it held a public forum regarding the safety of airbags and concluded (among other things) the following:
- Passenger-side air bags, as they are currently designed, are not acceptable as a protective device for children positioned in front of them and can kill or critically injure these children in accidents that would have been survivable had the air bag not deployed.
- The number of children killed and critically injured in accidents similar to those
investigated for the Board’s study will continue to increase unless immediate action
is first taken to determine the benefits of passenger-side air bags, as currently
designed.
- Air bags are being designed, because of certification testing requirements, primarily to protect unbelted rather than belted vehicle occupants even though the air bags are promoted as supplemental restraint systems and the majority of motor vehicle occupants now use seatbelts.
- In 9 of the 13 accidents investigated for this study in which there were collisions with other vehicles and passenger-side air bag deployment, the change in velocity was less than 20 mph, yet 5 of the 9 children in the right front passenger seats in these accidents sustained serious, critical, or fatal injuries from contact with the passenger-side air bag (2 of the 5 children were in rear-facing child restraint systems).
- The number of fatalities to children from deploying air bags will continue to increase because the NHTSA’s proposed rulemaking of August 6, 1996, does not include the nearly 22 million vehicles that will be on the road by the end of 1996 with passenger-side air bags and the estimated 13 million additional vehicles that will be sold each year until the new standards are in effect.
The NHTSA estimates that about 300 people, including 180 children, have been killed because of air bags. Countless others have sustained injuries.
The NHTSA gave automobile manufacturers until 2012 to provide advanced air bags.
Side Airbag Safety Study
Both frontal and side-impact air bags are designed to deploy in moderate to severe crashes. According to SmartMotorist.com, as of December 1999, more than 95 million, or 47 percent of all cars and light trucks on Americas' roads have driver-side air bags. Almost 68 million of these also have passenger-side air bags.
In 1997 Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety released a study that showed significant differences in the safety records of passenger-side airbag designs and some airbags were “poorly designed”, adding that some cars fitted with airbags were much more dangerous than others.
In vehicles with side airbags, it is dangerous for occupants to lean against the windows, doors, and pillars, or to place objects between themselves and the side of the vehicle. For instance, if you are sideswiped and your side curtain airbag fails to deploy, you could suffer a serious concussion and even brain injury. Say you are driving in a storm and your vehicle is blown off the road; your side curtain airbags inflate and cause excessive force to children riding in the backseats.
Or your front passenger side airbag suddenly deploys without warning. A lawsuit was filed against Ford Motor Co. when a child was injured (August, 2008) after a Ford Expedition's airbags suddenly deployed when the vehicle was not in use. The complaint stated that, “Such unnecessary and unexpected deployment of the airbag caused serious injuries and damages." The plaintiff claims the Expedition is defective and unsafe due to the unnecessary and unexpected deployment of the airbag while the vehicle was not in use.
Side Airbag Recalls
Feb 2010: Honda Motor Co. adds more than 378,000 cars to an existing safety recall for air bag inflation problems. Honda will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator casing to rupture and injure or kill the driver. Honda says it is aware of 12 incidents linked to the problem, with 11 injuries and one death.
December 2010: Chrysler Group recalls 65,000 Dodge Journey 2009 SUVs because side air bags might not deploy.
June 10, 2011: More than 47,000 2011 Cadillac SRX cross-over vehicles are recalled due to passenger-side side airbags that “might not deploy during a collision”.
September 2011: 10,631 Kia Sorento SUVs built between June 15th, 2006 and November 27th, 2007 are recalled due to a faulty airbag issue where the passenger-side air bag may be turned off even when an adult is occupying the seat.
Airbag Lawsuits
If an airbag fails and causes injury, a claim based on strict liability law, negligence and contract law can feasibly be made against the manufacturer of the air bag, the car and others. However, airbag lawsuits can be complicated and typically require expert testimony that the injury would not have occurred but for a defective airbag. An experienced attorney can help with expert witness testimonies, determine whether the airbag is defective, analyze automotive data and more.
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Last updated on Jan-21-12 |
AIRBAG INJURIES ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
Honda Expands Defective Airbag Recall
 Cleveland, OH: As anyone who has suffered from airbag injuries can tell you, having properly working side impact airbags and steering wheel airbags is vital to safety. People with defective airbags can suffer serious injury, both in cases when the airbag fails to deploy and in situations where the airbag deploys without reason. A recent airbag recall highlights the dangers of defective airbags [READ MORE]
New Generation of "Advanced" Airbags—Better or Worse?
 Detroit, MI: As vehicle manufacturers are adding "new and improved" airbags—including side airbags and curtain airbags—to their vehicles (the NHTSA gave automobile manufacturers until 2012 to provide advanced airbags), these airbags are also causing accidents. While some airbags do not deploy in a collision, others deploy without the vehicle being involved in an accident.
A [READ MORE]
GMC Side-Curtain Airbags Defective?
 Chicago, IL: When the side-curtain airbags in Lisa Jarrett's GMC Envoy Excel deployed without cause—there hadn't been a car accident—she thought "it was a gunshot because you see this flash of light," then there was another bang as the steering wheel airbag exploded.
I [READ MORE]
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