Airbags are designed to prevent your head and upper body from colliding with the steering wheel or dashboard. If an airbag doesn’t deploy, you may be thrown forward and suffer facial fractures, permanent scarring, organ damage, or other injuries.
These devices are designed to save lives and prevent injuries during a car crash, but some manufacturer’s mistakes result in failure to deploy, causing serious physical trauma. A victim may have suffered less or no injuries had the airbag deployed, but the fact remains that they have to pay their medical bills and vehicle repairs.
Steps to take when airbags fail to deploy
After any accident, if you are in severe pain or notice something wrong, seek immediate medical attention. If your airbags didn’t deploy in a crash and you don’t need to go to the hospital immediately, follow these steps to protect your rights and hold the manufacturer accountable.
Report the accident to police
You should notify the police of a car crash under any circumstances, but especially if your airbags didn’t deploy. The officer will include this fact in their report.
Document as much information as you can
You may be flustered or confused after being in a car crash, but you should try and write down as much of the following as you can:
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Details of the crash, including your speed, the location of vehicles involved, and traffic and stop signs
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Photos of vehicle damage, bodily injuries, and the scene of the crash
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Names and contact information of witnesses
Contact a car accident lawyer in Chicago
Airbag-related claims are notoriously difficult. The experienced product liability lawyers at Langdon & Emison know how to pursue these claims; we’ve done so for more than three decades. Unlike other lawyers, we won’t settle for anything less than you deserve.
If you were injured in a car accident, you may be able to sue the car or airbag manufacturer for damages through a product liability case. This is perhaps the best way to protect your rights and get the money you need to pay for treatment.
An experienced Chicago auto defect lawyer at Langdon & Emison will evaluate your case and help you through every step of the lawsuit process. Contact us today for more information and to schedule a free consultation.
Why didn’t my airbags deploy?
Unfortunately, there are many reasons why your airbags may have failed to deploy during a car accident. As consumers, we all hope that car manufacturers are careful and thorough in their testing and quality control measures, but that is not always the case. Many airbag deployment failures can be traced back to a manufacturing error. Common causes include:
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Airbag control module defects
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Defective crash sensors
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Defective electrical components
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Severed wiring
When you hire our car accident lawyers in Chicago, we will scour recall records. We will consult with vehicle and collision reconstruction experts and engineers to uncover the cause of the airbag failure. However, there’s no point in discovering the cause if you can’t prove it in court.
Proving Manufacturer Liability
Your attorney will need to prove several things in your product liability case. They’ll need to establish:
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The airbag should have deployed, but didn’t
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The airbag didn’t deploy because it was defective
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You suffered injuries because the airbag didn’t deploy
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The defective airbag directly caused your injuries
For your product liability claim to move forward smoothly, you should obtain as much evidence as possible from the scene of the crash (see above). You should also keep medical records and lists of treatments you received. These items will greatly help your Chicago auto defect attorney when establishing liability and helping you obtain the money you need.
Compensation In a Defective Airbag Lawsuit
Your personal injury attorney at Langdon & Emison will work to recover the following types of compensation for you:
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Medical expenses and associated out-of-pocket expenses, including transportation to a doctor’s office
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Emotional distress
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Lost income
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Pain and suffering
Chicago Auto Defect Lawyers
Airbags are meant to protect you in a car accident, but sometimes they fail. Manufacturer errors are one of the most common reasons why airbags fail and cause injuries, which can be very serious.
If you or a family member were injured in a car accident during which the airbags failed to deploy, you may be able to recover compensation for medical bills and other expenses through a lawsuit. Langdon & Emison’s reputation as a leader in auto defect litigation stems from our more than three decades of relentless representation of our clients against the manufacturing companies that caused their injury.
For more information and to schedule a free case consultation, call (312) 872-3389 or contact us here.