Did your airbag fail to deploy during a collision? Did you sustain injuries because your airbags didn’t deploy in a car crash?

Gone are the days when drivers could drive in Arizona with their seat belts, as they did in the 50s and 60s. Today’s motor vehicles have protective equipment, from backup cameras and automatic sensors to seat belts. In addition, your vehicle’s airbags protect you from the blunt force and impact of accidents — or, rather, they should.

Regrettably, not every airbag deploys during head-on collisions. In turn, you and other vehicle occupants may sustain injuries that are far worse than you would have had your vehicle’s airbags worked. Sometimes, the failure to deploy airbags during accidents can prove fatal.

You don’t have to bear the brunt of an airbag’s failure to deploy alone. You have the right to hold the car manufacturer liable for your injuries, damages, or the unexpected loss of your loved one. At Gerber Injury Law, our Arizona car accident lawyers can investigate why the airbag didn’t deploy, file a complaint on your behalf, and push for maximum compensation for your accident-related injuries and losses.

But first, let’s find out how an ​​airbag works, why it may fail to deploy during an accident, and how our personal injury attorneys can help.

Did Your Airbag Fail To Do Its Job?

Motor vehicle manufacturers started installing airbags in cars during the mid-to-late 1980s. Today’s cars come with frontal and side airbags. Since 1999, frontal airbags have been standard in all motor vehicles, with some auto manufacturers offering side airbags as standard or optional.

Interestingly, data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals that frontal airbags have saved over 50,000 lives in three decades.

If you get into a car wreck that’s made worse by an airbag that failed to deploy, your injuries may be severe. You may be unable to take action on your own in the face of your injuries and losses for a considerable period of time. Fortunately, you can bring in an experienced legal representative from Gerber Injury Law to uphold your best interests while you focus on healing and recovery.

Arizona product liability attorneys can help you file a claim holding liable parties responsible for injuries since the airbag failed to deploy. They can conduct independent investigations to determine whether the airbag had design or manufacturing defects. Doing so allows you to pursue compensation for your damages. That compensation from the insurance company can cover your medical bills, vehicle repair or replacement expenses, and other crash-related fees.

Should a loved one pass away due to an airbag’s failure to deploy, you can still work with an Arizona personal injury lawyer to explore your right to file a wrongful death claim. You may have the right to hold several parties responsible for your loved one’s untimely demise. This all depends on the evidence available at the scene.

Airbag Mechanics in a Nutshell

Airbags are designed to deploy during accidents, such as rollovers and front-end collisions.

In a head-on collision, airbags should deploy when the vehicle’s front strikes a hazard, be it another car, a barrier, or a tree. The goal is to cushion vehicle occupants and prevent them from being tossed towards the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield. Airbags also prevent drivers and passengers from being ejected from vehicles.

In rollover crashes, airbags should automatically deploy when the car or truck is thrown off balance. This shields occupants from being hurled out as the vehicle turns.

But airbags don’t deploy at random. So, how exactly do they work? Every motor vehicle has sensors designed to detect collisions. If these sensors detect an intense impact from another motor vehicle or object, the sensors send a signal to the vehicle’s airbag deployment system, which forces the airbags to inflate. This happens almost instantly — or within less than 1/20th of a second.

Because airbags deploy so quickly, severe or, at times, fatal injuries can occur if vehicle occupants are too close to or come into direct contact with the airbag during deployment.

You can see how catastrophic an auto accident might be if the airbag fails to deploy. A motorist in a head-on collision might hit their head and chest against the steering wheel, resulting in severe head trauma. Such an injury may result in long-term behavioral, cognitive, and physical impairments that can drastically alter an injured victim’s life.

A driver in a rollover accident might be ejected from their vehicle or struck by debris if airbags fail to deploy and protect them. Occupants might be thrown into the path of oncoming traffic, which can lead to fatal injuries, or skid across the road and sustain facial trauma or severe burns, which can result in permanent and visible scarring.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), front airbags typically deploy when the collision impact is comparable to hitting a rigid wall at 16 mph. This threshold applies to belted occupants since seatbelts alone will likely offer adequate protection for these moderate speeds.

For unbelted vehicle occupants, most airbags will deploy at a lower threshold of 10-12 mph.

So why might vehicle airbags not deploy in a crash? Various factors can affect the deployment of airbags in an Arizona car accident, including:

• The speed of the vehicle
• The type and impact of the accident you are involved in
• The severity of the impact
• The location of the impact

Vehicle sensors can be in perfect working condition but fail to transmit airbag deployment signals. This is more common in rear-end car accidents since most airbag sensors are located at the front of vehicles. This might happen if you are rear-ended on Arizona highways by a slow-moving vehicle that doesn’t have sufficient impact to trigger airbag sensors.

Reasons Why Your Airbag May Have Failed

Sometimes, manufacturing defects affect a car’s ability to deploy airbags during an accident. When consumers sue product manufacturers because defective products cause injuries and losses, Arizona courts assess these product liability cases to determine the precise type and extent of the product defect.

A motor vehicle airbag can have three types of defects, and they include:

Design Defects

These defects occur during product conception. Production is done according to the design, but the product’s design is defective or unsafe. In the case of airbags, manufacturers might learn of such defects after airbags have been installed in vehicles and consumers start getting injured during accidents.

Manufacturing Defects

Once an auto manufacturer designs an airbag and it is approved, the next stage is production. During this phase, equipment failure, employee mistakes, sources of materials, and shipping errors can lead to manufacturing defects. Here, the product design is safe, but its execution is flawed.

Marketing Defects

These defects relate to the information consumers receive regarding airbags from manufacturers and sellers. This can occur when auto manufacturers don’t warn consumers about the product’s hazards. Airbag marketing defects happen when a manufacturer uses deceptive advertisements or makes misleading statements about safety.

If an airbag failed to deploy during a car accident in Arizona, several possible explanations could shed light on why this happened, including:

• You might have an advanced frontal airbag system. For newer vehicles, advanced systems automatically deactivate passenger airbags when they detect children or if no passenger is in the vehicle.
• The crash conditions didn’t warrant deployment. Seat belts offer enough protection during low-impact or low-speed accidents.
• Airbags need replacement after deployment. The previous vehicle owners might not have replaced the airbags after an accident, whether or not the airbags deployed.
• Electrical problems. If the vehicle’s wiring system that connects the airbags to its sensors is disrupted, the control unit won’t send a signal to the inflator to deploy the airbags. Severe collisions can cut the wires controlling the airbag system, causing it to deactivate when you need it the most.
• Faulty sensors. Airbag sensors detect the motion and impact of a possible collision and send a signal for airbag deployment. If the sensors are defective or improperly installed, they may not detect the accident and initiate the deployment process.

It may not be clear why your airbag failed to deploy. There are many possible issues that may lead to airbag failure. Airbags may also not deploy if:

• They are old
• They have rips or holes

The airbag or vehicle manufacturer may argue that the conditions weren’t suitable for airbag deployment. An experienced car accident attorney in Arizona can show you how they should have been deployed based on the details and circumstances of your accident. They can also help you report the problem to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation for investigations into potential airbag defects and possible recalls.

Airbag Injuries When Fail To Inflate

Airbags can fail and cause injuries in various ways, including:

• Failing to deploy during a crash
• Deploying with too much force
• Deploying when untriggered
• Deploying prematurely

When airbags fail to deploy during an accident, vehicle occupants can endure severe and life-threatening injuries to the:

• Head. Injuries to the head and face can be particularly dangerous. In a severe auto accident, the head may hit the steering wheel or the side of the car, leading to face scars, vision damage, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, or even death.
• Chest. Significant force is directed towards one’s upper body during a collision. This can cause tissue damage or broken bones in the chest.
• Neck. If you are thrown forward during an accident, you may sustain severe spinal cord damage, herniated discs, or whiplash.
• Arms and legs. During a car accident in Arizona, your ligaments may endure considerable force, resulting in fractures or broken bones.
• Internal systems. The impact of motor vehicle accidents, particularly truck wrecks in Arizona, can cause organ damage or internal bleeding.

In other cases, airbags may deploy prematurely or when untriggered, leading to severe injuries. Injuries can happen to various body parts depending on where the occupant is seated and whether they have their seatbelt on. Some of the common injuries caused by deployment include:

• Facial scars
• Bruises
• Concussions
• Irritated lungs
• Fractured ribs
• Neck injures
• Sprained wrists or fingers
• Damage to the eyes

Based on the above injuries, your car accident lawyer in Arizona may be able to pursue compensation that includes:

• Medical bills — current and future expenses
• Ongoing care costs
• Lost wages
• Diminished earning capacity
• Out-of-pocket expenses, such as hospital parking fees
• Pain and suffering
• Disfigurement
• Disability

An experienced car accident attorney can help you better understand your case, prove a defective airbag led to your injuries, and navigate the claims process on your behalf.

Examples of Airbag Product Liability Cases

Japan’s Takata Corporation is responsible for the largest airbag recall in U.S. history. According to the NHTSA, approximately 67 million Takata airbags were recalled because the airbags could explode when deployed, risking severe injury or even death. The recall affected many auto manufacturers, including BMW, Audi, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, GMC, Toyota, Tesla, and Volkswagen.

The airbag recall resulted in dozens of class action lawsuits against Takata and auto manufacturers.

Contact Our Arizona Car Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Consultation

No doubt, airbags are integral life-saving components in every motor vehicle. Between 1987 and 2017, frontal airbags saved approximately 50,457 lives. But there are times when airbags fail to work as they should, resulting in severe consequences.

If you or your loved ones have suffered injuries caused by an airbag’s failure to deploy, there are legal actions you can take. Calling an Arizona car wreck lawyer is the best thing to do after an accident where your airbags didn’t deploy. At Gerber Injury Law, we have been helping accident victims for more than 25 years and are ready to help you, too.

To discuss your legal options, call 623-486-8300 or contact us online for a free case review. Our legal team is here to answer your questions. Let us help you hold all liable parties accountable for their negligent actions.