You may be entitled to compensation if you live in California and have suffered an injury from airbag failure. Contact a California airbag failure lawyer at Bisnar Chase for a comprehensive evaluation. Call 800-561-4887 to learn more with a free case review.
In the event of an accident, vehicle airbags can play a significant role in reducing the severity of the traumatic injuries occupants suffer.
However, defective airbags do more harm than good. For example, when an airbag fails to deploy, the vehicle’s occupants may suffer catastrophic injuries or even fatalities.
In another scenario, when an airbag deploys suddenly or inadvertently, a serious injury collision could occur. Anyone suffering a personal injury as a result of a defective airbag should understand their legal rights and options and contact an auto defect lawyer as soon as possible.
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If you’ve been injured, contact our California airbag attorneys for a free and confidential case evaluation. There is no fee if we don’t win your case.
California Airbag Failure Lawyer
How Much is an Airbag Failure Case Worth?
The amount of money you can recover in an airbag injury lawsuit will depend on the specific circumstances of your case, including the severity of your injuries, the extent of your losses, and the fault of the manufacturer or other responsible party.
However, there have been some large verdicts in airbag injury cases.
In Spartanburg, South Carolina, a jury handed down a $2.8 million verdict on behalf of a plaintiff who was seriously injured in a car accident due to the failure of an airbag to deploy.
In 2013, a US jury found that South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. should pay $14 million to a Virginia man who suffered traumatic brain damage in an accident due to a defective airbag.
Takata, a Japanese airbag manufacturer, was fined $200 million by the US Department of Transportation in 2015 for selling defective air bags that caused injuries and deaths. As part of the settlement, two restitution funds were established: a $125 million fund for individuals who have been physically injured by Takata’s airbags and who have not already received compensation and a $25 million fund for individuals who suffered economic losses due to the recall of Takata airbags.
In another case, a Florida jury awarded $17 million to a paralyzed man when his airbag deployed too late. The jury found that the airbag manufacturer had failed to test the airbag properly.
It is important to speak with an experienced airbag injury attorney to discuss your case and understand how much money you can recover. A lawyer for airbag injuries can also help you file a product defect lawsuit and represent you in court.
Here are some of the damages you may be able to recover in an airbag injury lawsuit:
Medical expenses: This includes the cost of your hospital bills, doctor’s visits, medications, and other medical expenses relating to your injuries.
Lost wages: This includes the money you lost due to being unable to work.
Pain and suffering: This includes the physical and emotional pain and suffering you have experienced due to your injury.
Loss of consortium: This includes the loss of companionship and support from your spouse or other loved ones.
Punitive damages are awarded to punish the defendant for their actions.
Reach out to our defective airbag lawyer to discuss your case. A faulty airbag lawsuit can be complex, requiring an auto defect lawyer familiar with these very complicated cases.
How Much Do AirBag Attorneys Charge?
In California, personal injury attorneys can charge between 33 and 42% of their recovery. Known as a contingency fee basis, the law firms will collect their fee from the amount won, so you will never pay the lawyer directly.
If the attorney doesn’t win your case, there is no fee. Our sliding scale is 33 1/3%, but others can charge more. Discuss the fee structure with your attorney before you commit to hiring them.
Common Injuries From Faulty Airbags
Head and facial injuries: Airbags deploy with great force, which can cause head and facial injuries such as cuts, bruises, and broken bones.
Chest injuries: Airbags can also cause chest injuries such as bruises, broken ribs, and heart injuries.
Eye injuries: The chemicals used to inflate airbags can irritate the eyes and cause serious burns.
Hearing loss: The loud noise of an airbag deploying can cause permanent hearing loss.
Burns: The airbag fabric can cause burns if it directly touches the skin.
Internal injuries: In some cases, airbags cause internal injuries such as organ damage and brain injuries.
You should seek medical attention immediately if a faulty airbag has injured you. You should also contact a defective airbag attorney to discuss your legal options.
Current Statistics Relating to Airbags
As of 2024, there are no new airbag statistics with the last stats being released in 2017.
Airbags are supplemental restraints designed to work with safety belts. Since 1998, all new cars sold in the United States have been required to have an airbag each on the driver and passenger side.
Statistical analyses by NHTSA show that the combination of seatbelt use and airbags is highly effective, reducing fatality risk by 61 percent compared to an unbelted occupant of a vehicle not equipped with airbags.
Airbags have saved many lives in the US. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 50,457 lives have been saved over the last four decades by frontal airbags.
Airbags, however, can also harm people. According to an analysis of statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) of the United States, there were 618 injuries between 1980 and 1994, of which 42% involved the face, 33% an upper limb, and 9.6% the chest. Most injuries—96%—were categorized as mild, which was the most significant finding.
How Airbags Work
Airbag systems play a vital role in preventing head injuries. The concept of airbags is simple – striking your head against an air-filled pillow is far safer than striking the interior of a vehicle. A sensor tells the bag to inflate when there is a collision at about 15 mph.
The bag, made of nylon fabric, inflates with nitrogen gas before the front seat occupant can contact the steering wheel or dashboard. Airbags can inflate within 1/20th of a second.
However, it is important to realize that the explosive force with which airbags deploy can also cause injuries. Airbags are not necessarily soft pillows that comfortably cushion you during a crash. Rapid inflation is necessary to deploy airbags, but it can also result in serious injuries.
If you suffer injuries due to an airbag not working as intended, our skilled defective airbag lawyers trained in products liability cases can hold the manufacturer accountable and research product recalls that may be dangerous and lead to car crashes. Honda, GM, Chevy Toyota, and Ford must meet safety standards.
Are Airbags Required By Law?
Yes, airbags are required by law in the US. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 requires all passenger cars, light trucks, and vans manufactured after September 1, 1998, to be equipped with front airbags for the driver and front passenger.
Side airbags are not specifically mandated, but nearly all manufacturers include them as standard equipment to meet federal side protection requirements.
Some states have additional airbag requirements. For example, California requires all vehicles to be equipped with side airbags, and New York requires all vehicles to be fitted with rear airbags.
If this auto defect has caused you harm, get in touch with our personal injury law firm to see if you qualify for an airbag injury lawsuit. These complex cases require a legal team with experience in defective and dangerous products to ensure maximum financial compensation.
What Makes an Airbag Defective?
Even a properly working airbag can cause serious or even fatal injuries if the occupant is a child or a small adult who is sitting too close to the airbag at the time of deployment.
Some airbags, however, can cause devastating injuries even when the occupant is a safe distance from the steering wheel or dashboard. Defective airbags may cause:
- Airbag deployment failure: Airbags are an important part of a vehicle’s restraint system. With airbag failure to deploy, the occupant could suffer preventable traumatic injuries.
- Unnecessary deployment: Airbags are not meant to deploy during minor collisions. If they suddenly deploy when they are not needed, they can actually cause harm instead of preventing injuries.
- Oversized airbags: When faulty airbags inflate too much, they can violently strike an occupant, causing blunt force head trauma.
- Untethered airbags: The position and movement of the airbag will alter its effectiveness.
- Under-inflated airbags: When an airbag is improperly designed or assembled, it may not inflate correctly. An underinflated airbag could fail to prevent the occupant from striking the car’s interior.
- Incorrect positioning: Airbags deflate at a swift rate. When an airbag inflates toward an occupant instead of upward, it can cause severe trauma.
- Exploding airbags: If an airbag explodes, whether prematurely or during an accident, it can explode, causing severe and permanent injuries, even death.
If you or a loved one has experienced an injury or property damage in a car accident due to a defective airbag, contact an airbag injury lawyer at Bisnar Chase and see if your case qualifies for maximum compensation.
Passenger Airbag Deployment Issues
- Airbag deployment issues can arise due to various factors, including malfunctioning sensors, improper timing of deployment, and problems with inflation and chemicals. Here are some key points regarding passenger airbag deployment issues:
- Expectation of deployment: There may be a misconception that airbags should deploy in all severe crashes. However, airbags are designed to deploy when significant benefits are likely and when they can effectively reduce the severity of injuries occupants suffer.
- Deployment criteria: Each vehicle manufacturer develops its own deployment and non-deployment criteria based on their tests. These criteria aim to maximize the advantages of deployment while minimizing unnecessary deployments that may cause injuries.
- Malfunctioning sensors: A malfunctioning crash sensor can cause the airbag to deploy at the wrong time or fail to deploy during a crash.
- Injuries from deployment: Airbag deployment can cause various injuries, including severe eye injuries, fractures, traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, and respiratory issues due to the chemicals involved in the deployment.
The Largest and Most Complex Safety Recall in U.S. History
When an airbag is defective, the auto manufacturer may issue a recall to fix the serious safety issue. There have been some major airbag recalls over the years.
Due to airbag issues, nearly 20 different auto manufacturers have recalled their vehicles in recent years. Within the recalled vehicles, the front airbags on both sides had to be replaced, adding up to tens of millions of potentially dangerous airbags in total.
It was labeled “the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history” by NHTSA.
The recalled airbags were all made by a parts supplier called Takata. They were mostly installed on cars built from 2002-2015, but recalls are still ongoing.
Meant to be a key vehicle safety device, these dangerous airbags have the potential to deploy explosively, sending shrapnel shooting through the vehicle. There have been numerous Takata airbag incidents involving major injuries and fatalities of drivers and passengers.
The issue is caused by the airbag inflator devices. The force of the airbag ignition has, in some cases, caused the metal inflator cartridge to rupture, sending shards flying and causing potentially disastrous outcomes.
NHTSA has investigated the problem and found serious defects involved. But there have already been more than 10 deaths and over 180 injuries in the U.S.
The recall has gradually been extended to include more and more vehicles. It now includes over 50 million vehicles in the United States.
If you have been impacted by a Takata airbag defect, our California airbag lawyers can help you win a product liability lawsuit against the negligent manufacturer. Contact our law firm today for a free case evaluation.
Compensation for an Airbag Failure Injury
If you have suffered an injury as the result of a faulty airbag, you may be able to seek compensation by filing an airbag failure liability claim against the automaker and/or the manufacturer of the defective airbag.
You can take several steps to make the legal process smoother after an auto accident. Make sure you preserve the vehicle and the airbag. Do not make any repairs without a qualified expert conducting a thorough inspection.
It is also highly advisable to seek medical attention right away. This will help create a medical record and documentation of your injuries and maximize your chances for a complete recovery.
A successful claim against an auto manufacturer could result in financial compensation for:
Medical bills.
Lost wages.
Pain and suffering.
The cost of rehabilitation services.
Economic and non-economic damages.
Our skilled defective airbag lawyers understand what it takes to win your case. Bisnar Chase has handled countless airbag defects. Whether you suffered minor injuries in a low-speed crash or a loved one has experienced a traumatic brain injury or wrongful death, our legal team has the skill and experience to help.
Top-rated California Airbag Failure Lawyer
Brian Chase is a top-rated auto defect lawyer who has successfully taken on big corporations that manufacture faulty air bags for decades. He has a proven track record of winning cases against these corporations and is committed to helping injured victims get the compensation and justice they deserve.
Brian is relentless in pursuit of justice. He is not afraid to go up against the biggest and most powerful automotive companies and has a deep understanding of the law and the auto industry, which gives him a significant advantage in these cases.
How we will fight for you?
- Conduct a thorough investigation of the case to gather all of the evidence.
- Build a strong case by hiring some of the best experts to testify on your behalf.
- Negotiate with the defense attorneys and automaker to reach a fair settlement.
- If necessary, take the case to trial and fight for total compensation.
Keeping Children Safe From Faulty Air Bags
Airbags exist to help save lives. Hitting an airbag in a car accident is usually better than hitting the dashboard, windshield, or another hard and potentially dangerous surface.
In a car accident, an airbag inflates within 1/20th of a second to ensure you reach the airbag before you experience impact with another hard surface. To do so, an airbag packs quite a strong punch, which can leave some individuals injured or dead.
Newborns, infants, toddlers, and young children should never sit in the front seat because of the extreme risk of an airbag injuring them severely or catastrophically. Make sure to face the car seat, looking towards the rear of the vehicle, in the rear seat.
An airbag injury lawyer is a specialty and requires a deep understanding of the automotive industry. You should not seek out a standard lawyer if you have a faulty airbag case. Defective
Takata airbags have come under a lot of scrutiny and federal pressure because of all the issues and flaws associated with their airbags. We have been involved in hundreds of Takata faulty airbag claims.
Almost $1 Billion Recovered
Find an experienced California defective airbag lawyer who will fight for you. At Bisnar Chase we have obtained successful verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured victims and their families. We know what it takes to fight against large automakers whose negligence causes these types of catastrophic product failures.
- A 99% success rate.
- Maximized case results, with more than $850 million won.
- A strong attorney-client relationship requires trust and communication.
- A free consultation and a no win no fee promise.
We firmly believe that a vehicle manufacturer should not be allowed to cut corners at the expense of a consumer’s safety. If your injuries resulted from shoddy design or a manufacturing defect, our team is here to offer legal advice and superior representation.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a defective auto, please get in touch with our top-rated airbag injury lawyers at Bisnar Chase. Phone (800) 561-4887, send us an email or contact us via live chat on our website for a free consultation and comprehensive case evaluation.
