Defective Airbags

Defective Airbags have received a lot of press lately, but actually defective airbags have been an issue since vehicle manufacturers started using them.  Airbags, when they work properly, deploy only when it would help prevent an injury.  You would not want your front airbag to deploy if you were hit from the side because it wouldn’t do any good and might do some harm - those airbags come out fast with a lot of force.  To make sure that your airbag only comes out when you need it, a vehicle is equipped with sensors and a gyroscope that feed information to your car’s computer in thousandths of a second.  If the sensors detect a force on your car in the right direction and strong enough to need an airbag, it will tell the airbag to deploy.  Front airbags should only deploy if you hit something in front of you (the force vector is in line with your car).  Side curtain airbags should only deploy in a side collision or rollover.

Sometimes airbags do not pop out in a wreck because they are not supposed to.  But other times a defect prevents the airbag from deploying – this can be either a design or manufacturing defect. We see airbag defects manifest in a variety of ways.  The first and most obvious airbag defect is not having airbags or not having them in the right place.  If a vehicle manufacturer designs a vehicle without airbags, that is a design defect.  If the manufacturer has all the right airbags in all of the right places but the airbags do not work properly, that could be a design or manufacturing defect.    

If you or a loved one suffered an injury that could have been prevented by a properly functioning airbag, you likely have a defective airbag lawsuit.  You need an experienced airbag lawyer to evaluate your case and make sure you recover everything you are entitled to.  The Merman Law Firm works with the most respected airbags experts in the country to ensure that every client injured by a defective airbag gets the help they need.