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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, Arlington, Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, Plano, Carrollton, Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster, Oak Cliff, Dallas County, Tarrant County, Collin County, Denton County, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Abilene, Amarillo, Beaumont, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, Texarkana, Tyler, Waco, Wichita Falls or any other city in Texas. There is no charge to contact our Texas auto accident lawyers or Texas car wrecks attorneys for a free evaluation of your auto accident injury claim.

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Kraft & Associates, P.C. maintains offices in Dallas, Texas. We serve all areas of North Texas, including Dallas County, Tarrant County, Denton County and the cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, Garland, Mesquite, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Lewisville, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, Coppell, Colleyville, Duncanville, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster and Rockwall.

Please read this Legal Mumbo Jumbo before acting on any information contained in this Web site.

Click here for a Map to our office or call us at (214) 999-9999 for driving directions.

All questions concerning this Web page should be directed to Robert Kraft. The attorney responsible for this site for the purposes of compliance with the Texas Bar Rules is Robert Kraft.
Robert Kraft's Blog

Please visit our other Web sites: KraftLaw.com, Air Bag Injury Claims, Auto Accident Injury Claims, Dog Bite Injury Claims, Prempro Drug Claims, Social Security Disability Law, Social Security Law, Texas Criminal Law, Texas Family Law, Texas Workers' Compensation, Truck Wreck Injury Claims, Vioxx Drug Claims, Immigration Law Answers, Immigration Law Answers Blog, DFW Immigration Law Blog, Injury and Disability Blog, Robert Kraft's Blog

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