Tredworth, UKWhen airbags were first introduced into automobiles, they were hailed as a safety feature that carried as much significance to driver and passenger safety as the introduction of the seat belt, and later the shoulder belt. Since then airbag design has changed, and there are more of them, with an average car now equipped with driver, passenger, and curtain and side impact airbags. And yet airbag injuries can occur. This happens when they fail to deploy when they should in an accident or when they deploy into the faces of unsuspecting occupants, when they shouldn’t.
The latter happened on Christmas Day, when a young driver from the United Kingdom was pulling into a parking bay. There was no collision. And yet the driver and passenger-side airbags on the Peugeot 206 suddenly deployed without warning, shaking up the occupants and leaving the passenger with a deep gash to his forehead.
Although the passenger’s airbag injuries were not serious, they could have been far worse, according to his sister Natalie Lewis, who was driving the 12-year-old car at the time.
The manufacturer of the car said in a statement that airbags should be checked every 10 years, according to instructions in the car’s handbook. Lewis purchased the car used 18 months ago, and gave little thought to the condition of the airbags. The vehicle was certified as safe when it was sold to her.
According to the Gloucestershire Echo (1/7/14), Lewis was driving with her brother seated beside her in the passenger seat, with her sister and Lewis’ four-year-old son riding in back. Without warning, as Lewis pulled into the parking lot, the airbags deployed. Police officers called to the scene investigated and were satisfied there was no collision that may have triggered the airbags to deploy.
Suspecting defective airbags, the young mother took the car to a Peugeot dealer. Following an inspection of the airbag system, Lewis was told the dealer could find no fault with the system.
Because of that - and because the airbags may not have been inspected at the 10-year interval as stipulated by the manufacturer - Peugeot is denying any responsibility.
“The Peugeot dealer, where the car is currently housed, has informed the owner that any investigation would be at their cost; this would be reimbursed if a manufacturing fault was found to be the cause. Diagnosis so far via the electronics shows the air bags imploded correctly,” the statement said.
And yet, there was no collision, a fact verified by attending police officers. The deployment happened at a low rate of speed. The report did not mention if Lewis had any idea as to whether the original owner of the vehicle had the airbags inspected before vending the car to Lewis. However, a Peugeot spokesman told the Gloucestershire Echo in a statement that “the car in question is 12 years old and we can find no record of any service or warranty history at a main Peugeot dealer. We always recommend that a car is maintained by an authorised (sic) dealer in accordance with our service intervals. We are not aware of any other cases like this on the 206.”
That doesn’t help Lewis, who has been quoted a price tag of up to US $5,000 to have the airbags in her 12-year-old car repaired. Her insurance won’t cover the cost because it is viewed by her insurer as a mechanical defect, and not the result of an accident.
The leaves the 24-year-old caught between a rock and a hard place. She needs the car for her job. But she also faces a massive repair bill. Until the repair happens, the car is not drivable.
It is not known if Lewis is considering an airbag failure lawsuit.
“Luckily I was pulling over into a parking bay when this happened and not on the motorway travelling at high speed or even travelling the standard 30 mph,” said Lewis, who hails from Tredworth. “We were all in terrible shock and seconds after my brother realised (sic) he was bleeding profusely from just above his eye.”
To this end, airbag failure can occur not only when an airbag fails to deploy - but also when it deploys at exactly the wrong time...
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