Defective Airbag Lawsuit Filed After Fatal Crash

Point Pleasant, WVAn airbag failure can put the lives of vehicle drivers and passengers at risk, even though airbags are regarded as life-saving devices. The problem is that defective airbags may not deploy in an accident, or may deploy unnecessarily, potentially causing serious and even fatal airbag injuries. Recalls and lawsuits have been announced linked to problems with airbags.

One lawsuit was filed by the husband of a woman who died in a car accident on May 3, 2011. According to the West Virginia Record (9/11/13), LaDonna Stewart was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer XLT when her vehicle was rear-ended. Although Stewart was reportedly wearing her seatbelt, the lawsuit alleges both the seatbelt and airbag were defective and Stewart was ejected from the vehicle. The lawsuit (in the Circuit Court of Mason County, Case No. 13-C-67) claims wrongful death and seeks more than $1.2 million from defendant Ford Motor Co.

As more airbags are added to enhance the safety of vehicles, and as airbags become more sophisticated, the risk of issues with the airbags can also increase, leading to vehicles being recalled to ensure the airbags are repaired. In 2012, for example, Volvo recalled 17,000 cars because of a loose wire that could cause the airbags to either deploy improperly or not at all in an accident.

According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2/28/12) (NHTSA; found online at www.odi.nhtsa.gov), the cars were recalled because the wire harness may not have been properly attached to the seat frame, resulting in it possibly disconnecting when the seats were moved.

Earlier in 2013, approximately 185,000 Hyundai Elantra vehicles were recalled due to an issue with the support bracket. The NHTSA reported that a headliner support bracket could come loose when the side curtain airbag deployed, potentially hitting a vehicle occupant and causing injuries. The recall affected model years 2011-2013.

Airbags that deploy improperly can be just as dangerous as airbags that fail to deploy at all. If they deploy while a person is driving, they can cause an accident and impair the driver’s ability to maneuver the vehicle. If they deploy too late after an accident, even by a tenth of a second, they can cause serious injury to passengers in the vehicle. That’s because airbags are meant to deploy with a great amount of force based on the person in the vehicle being a certain distance from the airbag when it deploys. If they’re too close to the airbag - if their body is jolted forward by the accident - they could be hit by the full force of the airbag, causing serious facial injuries.