BATTERY BY AIR BAG: WHEN SAFETY GOES WRONG

Randall_F_Rogers's picture

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Nothing made by humans is ever truly perfect.

The truth is, while we may have an inherent amount of trust and expectation of machinery , mechanisms and computers to work properly and be reliable, the fact is even the best-made tools are not 100-percent perfect. There are always going to be defects or accidents that happen.

But we don’t go into our cars thinking that. When our cars have seat belts and an air-bag system in place, we generally expect and anticipate that safety system to work the way it is supposed to on the road. Sometimes, however, that system can be faulty, and often that defect leads to serious injuries or death, even in a minor collision if the airbags do not engage at all or do so a split-second late.

Injuries can vary in severity, but airbags do tend to impact the head, face, shoulders and chest. The difficulty with airbags is that they are generally manufactured for an average-sized man, which means even properly working airbags can cause injury to elderly people, many women and most children.

Every now and then, you hear about major recalls from auto manufacturers about defects in their airbag systems, and this is usually after a number of people have already been seriously injured or killed. However, because of the potential liability involved, recalling the vehicles and absorbing the cost of fixing the problem is usually preferable to the alternative, which can be a class-action lawsuit.

When it comes to airbag-caused injuries, an injured party can sue an auto manufacturer if there is reason to believe the manufacturer knew of the defect and did nothing to fix it, but more likely the liable party may be the maker of the airbag system, especially if there is evidence that the airbag deployed too late or didn’t deploy at all during a collision.

It will be important to know as much information about your vehicle as possible, so if you do suffer injuries due to non-deployment or late deployment of an airbag – or even from an airbag deploying for no reason at all – that you can get information on the manufacturer of the airbag system and have your personal-injury lawyer investigate the history and track record of that airbag system in that particular car model.

Things do happen. Nothing is perfect. But there is a big difference between an airbag that happens to have a defect and outright negligence in the manufacture or installation of the airbag system. Knowing your rights and getting all the details of your incident is vitally important. Chances are good you won’t be able to get all the answers by yourself, unless you know your rights in these situations.

In that case, it is a good idea to have a personal injury lawyer by your side to help you uncover all the facts and discover the truth of the incident, no matter where the facts lead. This will help you protect and defend your rights in such a case and ensure that a fair and reasonable resolution can be reached.