Airbag Injuries Can Occur Even When They Work

March 12, 2012, 10:45AM. By Gordon Gibb

Detroit, MIWhen it comes to airbags, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Not having them could get you killed or severely injured. But having them could result in airbag injuries.

Earlier this month, Toyota announced a recall of almost a half-million Tacoma pickups built between 2005 and 2009 due to the possibility of friction resulting in the loss of an electrical connection to the driver's airbag module. The Detroit News (3/8/12) reported that the connection loss could activate the airbag warning lamp, where it would remain illuminated after the engine has been started (it normally disappears). This could be a sign, however, that the driver's airbag might be deactivated.

But that's just one problem with airbags that consumers need to be looking for. There are others…

For example, the airbag black market. Strange but true, stolen cars are often taken to chop shops where they are stripped of all useful parts—including the airbags. Akin to a strong black market for copper, underground market airbags are worth their weight in gold due to the high cost of replacement. An airbag failure, either the result of an accident or not, would require replacing the airbag system if the car itself is salvageable.

A new airbag replacement can run as high as $5,000 v. $500 on the black market.

Any consumer who is buying a car from an unknown source or who has had his or her airbag system replaced must wonder if the airbag is original equipment, or obtained by unsavory means. A mechanic charging for a new airbag system but actually using a black market airbag will pocket a tidy sum in the difference. And are black market airbags, defective airbags?

The Aurora Banner reported on February 16 that stolen airbags are a problem in the York Region and municipalities surrounding Metropolitan Toronto.

And with defective airbags, they can be defective when they don't work, but also defective when they DO—if they deploy too quickly and with too much force. Following severe injuries and deaths to children, modern-day airbags were decelerated. But airbags still pose a hazard, especially to individuals who are short of stature and typically sitting right up close to the steering wheel.

Airbag lawsuits have often occurred when the plaintiff was injured by a defective airbag—perhaps deploying in error or the result of a minor accident. Safety advocates suggest drivers sit no closer than 10 inches away from the steering wheel (which contains the driver airbag). Any distance further away is preferred while still controlling the vehicle and maintaining optimum sight lines.

Individuals wearing glasses or hard contact lenses while driving are also at risk of airbag injury if sitting too close. And while small children must be placed in an approved child's car seat in back or facing toward the seat in an approved baby carrier if placed in the front—questions about side curtain airbags remain, and their impact on children.