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Robert A. Kraft |
Air
Bag Injury
Claims
Contact Us Today For a Free
Consultation
We are airbag lawyers (air bag lawyers). Call us if you have been the victim of
an
airbag
incident
or if a
loved one
has suffered a
wrongful death or serious injury
because of airbags. Whatever legal problem you may have, our
Dallas,
Texas
airbag attorneys
want to help you. You can see us for free. Please call us now.
You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
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A serious
air bag
injury requires a serious
air bag
lawyer. Call us now and you can get the help of an
airbag
attorney.
Airbags have
been highly effective in reducing fatalities from frontal
crashes. Between 1986 and March 1, 2001, airbags have
saved an estimated 5,303 front seat occupants, 4,496
drivers (85%), and 807 right-front passengers (15%). Of
the 5,303 people, 72% were unbelted and 28% were belted.
However,
while airbags have saved an increasing number of people in
moderate to high speed crashes, they have also been
causing fatalities and injuries in relatively low speed
crashes. As of April 1, 2000, the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration's Special Crash
Investigation (SCI) has confirmed a total of 158
fatalities induced by airbag deployment. Of that total, 92
were children, 60 were drivers, and 6 were adult
passengers.
Faced with a wave of product liability lawsuits, the industry
responded
in the following ways:
First,
warnings were issued to parents to ensure that their
children were always put in the back seat. Second, NHTSA
pushed the use of advanced airbag technology, which
resulted in depowering of airbags in the 1998 model year.
The so-called "Second Generation" of airbags has reduced the
frequency of fatalities, but inflation-induced injuries
continue to occur. The injuries are principally caused by
the following defects.
Airbag Thresholds
Airbag
injuries are frequently caused because the airbag should
not have deployed in the crash. Airbag systems are
controlled principally by design thresholds which dictate
when and under what circumstances the bags are to deploy.
Frontal airbags are designed to only deploy in frontal
crashes, not side impacts, rear impacts, or rollovers.
First Generation frontal airbags were designed to never
deploy at speeds generally below six-and-a-half mph, the
so-called no-fire threshold, and always deploy at speeds
generally above 13 mph, the so-called must-fire threshold.
The gray zone, the difference between the no-fire and
must-fire threshold, was built into the system to allow
variability. As a result of the airbag thresholds and
variability of the manufacturing and quality control,
airbags frequently deployed in crashes when they should
not have.
Late Deployment
The airbags
frequently cause injuries because they deploy late.
Manufacturers have known for at least 25 years that the
airbag must be fully inflated before there is an
interaction with the occupant. However, because of sensor
designs, location of sensors, and the wiring systems
utilized by manufacturers, airbags frequently do not
deploy in a timely manner. As a result, the airbag
partially(?) inflates into the occupant, causing
inflation-induced injuries.
Late
deployments can be proven by downloading the black box to
airbags. The black box is a computer database on each car,
called the Sensing Diagnostic Control Module. It records
information concerning the accident. In particular, it
will show when the airbag decided to fire and at what time
the bag fired. A print-out of this data can reliably show
that the airbag was not fully inflated when it interacted
with the occupant.
Aggressive Airbags
Airbag
systems have been causing inflation-induced injuries
because they are overly aggressive. As noted above, First
Generation airbags were deploying with great velocity
because they were principally intended to minimize serious
injuries and deaths in high-speed collisions.
As a result,
the bags were designed to deploy with the force needed to
minimize injuries in the high-speed accidents. But since
the bags were deploying in relatively minor crashes, the
force of inflating the bag was causing injuries that would
not have otherwise occurred. As a result, single-stage
inflators were replaced with dual and/or two-stage
inflators, or depowered inflators, which typically
deployed with less force. The Second and Third Generation
airbags, utilize these designs, and have greatly minimized
the risk of serious injury or death in low-speed
accidents.
Non-Deployments
Airbags
sometimes can cause injuries by failing to deploy.
Failure-to-deploy cases are becoming more common because
the manufacturers have attempted to cut costs associated
with their airbag systems. As a result, the quality and
quantity of sensors have been reduced. As a result,
airbags are not deploying in crashes like they should, and
preventable injuries are occurring on a more frequent
basis.
Failure to Equip Cases
Airbag
injuries are being caused from the failure to equip
airbags in vehicles. A tremendous amount of press has
recently been focused on side impacts involving light
trucks and passenger cars. In these accidents, the
near-sided occupant is exposed to injury from the striking
high bumper vehicles. The manufacturers have known for at
least a decade that these injuries could be minimized or
prevented with the use of side airbags. In particular, the
use of torso, head, and curtain type airbags would
minimize or prevent many of the side impact injuries. In
addition, manufacturers, such as Volvo and Mercedes, have
incorporated rollover type airbags to minimize head and
neck injuries in rollover collisions.
For more information about vehicle injuries caused by
defective airbags, please contact our law firm by telephone or
e-mail. There is never a fee for the initial consultation.
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Texas airbag law, also
referred to as Texas airbags Texas air bag law, Texas air bags, Texas car wreck, Texas car wrecks,
Texas auto accident, Texas automobile collision, Texas automobile
collisions, Texas auto collision, Texas auto collisions, Texas
motorcycle accidents, Texas train wrecks, and Texas truck wrecks is
a complicated legal system and is difficult for anyone to
understand. Our Texas auto accident lawyers and Texas auto accident
attorneys can help you if you have been injured in a car wreck
anywhere in Texas, including Dallas, Fort Worth,
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evaluation of your auto accident injury claim. |