Airbag Failures And Severe Crash Injuries

You’re driving down the road when another vehicle slams into you. In that split second, you expect your airbags to deploy and protect you. That’s what they’re designed to do, but sometimes they don’t work, and when that happens, a survivable accident becomes something much worse. At Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC, we can help you get justice and the compensation you deserve.

How Airbags Are Supposed To Work

Modern vehicles have sensors throughout the frame that detect sudden deceleration. When you hit something hard enough, these sensors send a signal to inflate the airbags. The entire process takes about 30 milliseconds.

Why does speed matter so much? Because even though your car stops moving, your body doesn’t. You keep traveling forward at whatever speed you were going until something stops you. That something should be a cushion of air, not your steering wheel. The airbag creates a barrier between you and the hard surfaces inside your vehicle. Dashboard. Steering wheel. Side panels. Windows. Without that protection, you’re hitting solid objects at full force.

Common Types Of Airbag Failures

Airbag systems fail in several ways:

• Non-deployment: The bag never inflates during the crash
• Late deployment: It inflates too slowly or after you’ve already hit something
• Partial deployment: The bag doesn’t fully inflate, leaving you exposed
• Aggressive deployment: It is so forceful that it causes injuries
• Unintended deployment: The bag goes off when there’s no accident at all

What causes these failures? Manufacturing defects are common. Sensor malfunctions happen. Electrical systems fail. Sometimes a mechanic did shoddy repair work after a previous accident and compromised the whole system.

Injuries From Failed Airbag Deployment

When airbags fail, the injuries follow a predictable pattern. A Lafayette car accident lawyer can tell you they’ve seen these cases too many times. Head injuries are the most obvious result. Your face hits the steering wheel at full speed. Skull fractures. Traumatic brain injuries. Broken cheekbones and orbital bones. Deep lacerations that require reconstructive surgery. These aren’t minor injuries that heal in a few weeks. Your chest takes a massive impact, too. Ribs break when they strike the steering wheel directly. Those broken ribs can puncture lungs or damage your liver and spleen. Some people suffer cardiac injuries from blunt force trauma.

Neck injuries get exponentially worse without airbag protection. The whiplash effect becomes more violent. You might end up with cervical spine damage, torn ligaments, or compressed nerves. Some of these injuries never fully heal. The difference between an accident with working airbags and one without can be life-changing. We’re talking about the gap between walking away sore and spending months in recovery. Or worse.

Who Is Responsible For Airbag Failures

Figuring out who’s liable for a faulty airbag isn’t always straightforward. Multiple parties might share responsibility. Vehicle manufacturers top the list if there’s a design or manufacturing defect in the airbag system itself. You’ve probably heard about the massive recalls over the years. Millions of vehicles were pulled off the road because their airbags were dangerous. Those weren’t accidents. Those were systemic failures.

Sometimes the airbag component manufacturer is the problem, not the car maker. Remember Takata? Their defective inflators killed people and injured hundreds more. The parts were installed in vehicles from dozens of different automakers.

Auto repair shops can be liable, too. If a mechanic improperly serviced your airbag system after a previous accident, they might have disabled it without realizing it. There are specific procedures for working on these safety systems, but not everyone follows them. Previous owners might even bear some responsibility if they knew about an airbag recall but never bothered to get it fixed before selling you the car.

Proving Your Airbag Failed

The vehicle’s event data recorder captures what happened during the collision. This black box records whether the airbag system received deployment signals and how the vehicle responded. That data is gold in these cases. Physical examination of the airbag system itself reveals the truth. Did it deploy? If so, did it function correctly? Experts can spot manufacturing defects, installation errors, and maintenance problems that caused the failure.

Your medical records matter too. When doctors document injuries in areas the airbag should have protected, it strengthens your case considerably. The injury pattern tells a story about what didn’t happen during the crash.

Your Legal Options

A malfunctioning airbag opens up legal options beyond a standard car accident claim. You’re not just dealing with the other driver’s negligence anymore. You’re potentially facing off against major corporations with deep pockets and aggressive legal teams. Product liability claims work differently from typical negligence cases. The rules are different. The defendants are different. The stakes are often higher. We investigate both the collision itself and any defects in your vehicle’s safety systems. A Lafayette car accident lawyer knows how to pursue compensation from multiple responsible parties at once. When a defective product causes your injuries, you shouldn’t be stuck with those costs. Indiana law provides pathways to hold manufacturers accountable, but you need to act before time runs out on your claim.