Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyers Blog

The introduction of airbags in passenger vehicles was seen as a new era in passenger safety. Cars with them were considered far safer than those without. This additional safety precaution was designed to ensure the safety of the driver, in conjunction with a seatbelt. On impact it is designed to deploy, the bag filling with air, cushioning the driver as they are thrown forward. However, there have been many problems associated with the airbag due to defects in manufacturing.

An airbag accident lawyer at our law firm has written this information to help clients who have been injured by defective or faulty airbags and who are considering filing an airbag accident lawsuit.

What are the problems associated with airbags?

• Deploying when they should not


• Deploying with too much force


• Deploying too slowly


• Deploying in low speed accidents


• Failing to deploy at all

Children and people with smaller statures and frames are particularly vulnerable to faulty airbag related injuries. Manufacturers contend that it is the consumer that tends to be at fault as they either sit too close to the steering wheel or do not wear a seatbelt. However, the following list of recalls that have occurred over the last few years speaks volumes:

• 2000 GM recalled 224,000 Cadillac Devilles to replace faulty side impact sensors, which would cause the airbags to needlessly deploy.


• 2001 Chrysler recalled 216,000 pickup trucks because of problems with drivers airbags


• 2003 Ford recalled 43,000 Lincoln Continentals because they may have deployed accidentally


• 2005 Hyundai recalled 240,000 Elantras due to airbag issues


• 2005 Kia recalled 73,000 Spectras for similar problems


• 2005 Honda recalled 85,000 minivans due to water leaking into the internal sensors, causing corrosion, which would have led to late deployment or complete failure

These are not the only vehicles with airbag problems, but are ones that have actually gone through a manufacture recall.

Airbag Deployment

Federal standards require that new cars be equipped with airbags, and that's a good thing. Airbags can help prevent injury. However, proper airbag deployment is essential. Airbags feature sensors that make them deploy depending on the speed and angle of the collision. Defective airbags may deploy at below-normal speeds or fail to deploy at the proper speed or angle. This improper airbag deployment can actually cause worse injuries than if the airbag had not deployed at all. Any number of flaws can cause defective airbags to fail. If you have a question about an air bag deployment, please contact our crashworthiness attorneys.

Airbag failure to deploy, defective airbags, or improper airbag deployment can cause serious eye injuries and permanent damage. In some cases partial (or even total) blindness has resulted. Many of these injuries occur due to direct contact with the deploying airbag (while it is still in a ball) or from impact with particles at a high speed that are released during (projected by the) airbag deployment. In response to this, it is necessary that research be conducted using crash dummies with "eye ball models" in order determine how these injuries are occurring and what can be done to prevent injury by proper airbag deployment angles and design of the airbag shape.

In addition, the age and size of the vehicle occupants can have a significant impact on injury profiles, including deasths caused by airbags. For example, a recent study showed that teenage occupants should stay out of the front seat of cars equiped with airbags, unless they are large enough to actually be driving behind the wheel of the car. Furthermore, car seats should NEVER be positioned facing an airbag in the front seat, as this could cause severe injury to an infant in a front seat positioned child seat. Children who are under the age of 15 are at a significantly high risk for fatal or at least serious injury from air bags when those children are seated in the front passenger seat during car crashes. In those cases, the airbag fails to protect the occupant and can even injure the occupant.

Injuries sustained by defective airbags

Surprisingly, one of the most common types of injury is that to the eyes, even in relatively minor accidents blindness has occurred due to a defective airbag. Other injuries to the eye include bruising to the socket and the eyeball rupturing.

Other injuries include but are not limited to:

• Chest injuries (often ending in fatality)


• Burns


• Bruising


• Spinal Cord Injury


• Death