When Airbags Don't Save Lives or Prevent Injury
Suite 2424, December 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Automobile manufacturers began installing airbags in vehicles in the mid-1970's. Marketed as a major advancement in vehicular safety, airbags have saved countless lives as their use and the technology they incorporate have expanded. However, that does not mean that they are foolproof and will work flawlessly as designed.
Over the years, certain airbag models have been prone to the problems of over-inflation, slow inflation, premature inflation, and failure to deploy in an accident. These failures have caused a considerable number of injuries and fatalities. When a vehicle owner is involved in an accident and suffers injuries as a result of a faulty airbag, the vehicle owner and their Chicago car accident lawyer can pursue civil action against the other driver, as well as a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of the faulty airbag and the car company that installed it within their vehicle.
Contact Chicago car accident lawyer Cary J. Wintroub: http://www.cjw-law.com/
CARY J. WINTROUB, Chicago Car Accident Lawyer
Most recently, the safety of Takata airbags installed in vehicles manufactured by Honda, Ford, BMW, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Daimler, Subaru, and GM have come into question. Takata's airbags have been shown to deploy with too much force that can cause the bag to rupture and shoot shrapnel towards drivers with such force that it can cause serious injury or death to the driver or person sitting in the passenger seat. It is currently estimated that over 19 million vehicles are equipped with these airbags and that it will take up to 4 years to remove them and replace them with properly functioning airbags.
While tens of thousands of lives have been saved by properly functioning airbags, at least 139 injuries and 4 deaths have been linked to the faulty design of Takata's airbags. In fact, the failure rates of Takata's airbags highlight the need for drivers to be careful in examining the safety features their vehicles are equipped with. Consumers should do their research in determining not only the safety reputation of the vehicle manufacturer and their component manufacturers, but also whether or not safety features such as airbags, crash avoidance technology, seatbelts, anti-lock brakes, etc. their vehicles are equipped with will perform as expected in an emergency.