Airbag Injuries In Car Accidents
Airbags have been a crucial safety innovation in motor vehicles since their debut over fifty years ago, ideally working in conjunction with seatbelts to provide a buffer between motorists and the dashboard of their car or truck during a crash. Although airbags undoubtedly save lives, they may also cause specific types of injuries in a Bozeman car accident. These injuries may occur even when an airbag functions correctly, but when an airbag isn’t calibrated correctly, malfunctions, or deploys unnecessarily, a motorist may experience severe injuries. Although no legal process erases injuries, a compensation claim against the appropriate party relieves the related financial consequences.
What Causes Airbag Injuries In Car Accidents
Since the installation of airbags became mandatory in new vehicles, there’s been a 29% decrease in driver fatalities and a 32% decline in passenger deaths from car accidents. Airbag installation at an auto manufacturer is a specialized process requiring careful calibration of sensors to alert the bags to deploy microseconds after a collision. Airbags contain 2,600 pounds of force that deploys at 200 miles per hour, often causing blunt force trauma to the face and chest. Unfortunately, sometimes the following malfunctions exacerbate typical airbag injuries:
- Improper installation
- Calibration errors
- Design defects
- Manufacturing mistakes
- Sensor software errors, causing unnecessary deployment or lack of deployment during a significant collision
- Deteriorated components
A car’s airbag is designed to work together with the restraining function of the car’s seatbelt. Sometimes, airbag injuries result from a defective seatbelt that fails to restrain the motorist from the full force of the airbag.
What Types of Injuries Are Caused By Car Airbags?
During a collision, an airbag fills with nitrogen or argon gas when the sensors detect a collision and trigger an electrical spark to ignite the propellant. The airbag forcefully inflates in a microsecond and then immediately begins deflating through vents in the back of the bag to avoid causing suffocation.
Airbags are responsible for specific injuries, especially when they malfunction. Common injuries from airbags include the following:
- External head, facial, and dental injuries
- Lacerations, abrasions, and contusions
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Whiplash and other neck injuries
- Nasal and orbital fractures
- Eye damage, sometimes with vision loss
- Ear injuries
- Wrist injuries, including sprains and fractures
- Shoulder injuries
- Fractured clavicle (collarbone)
- Thoracic injuries, including broken ribs, internal organ injuries, and internal bleeding
It’s crucial to undergo a complete medical evaluation after a car accident with airbag deployment. While the most common airbag injuries, such as broken noses and black eyes, are instantly recognizable, some types of airbag injuries have delayed symptom presentation. For instance, traumatic brain injuries, whiplash, and internal organ injuries often develop symptoms during the hours and days after an injury as bleeding and inflammation intensify.
Who Is Liable for Airbag Injuries?
In states with fault-based car accident laws like Montana, under the modified comparative negligence law (27-1-702), an injury victim can pursue compensation from all parties that caused or contributed to their accident and the severity of their injuries. Depending on the circumstances of the accident and the available evidence, a Montana car accident victim may be able to pursue compensation for their injury-related losses, not only from the at-fault driver, but from the manufacturer of a defective airbag. While proving liability for driver negligence requires evidence that the driver violated their duty of reasonable care, evidence in a defective product case must prove that a design defect, manufacturing error, or marketing mistake occurred. An experienced car accident attorney working in the best interests of their client pursues all available avenues for compensation.