Airbags save approximately 50,000 lives annually. When they malfunction, either by failing to deploy or deploying incorrectly, the consequences can be catastrophic. Airbag defect claims create independent liability separate from whatever negligence caused the underlying crash.
Two Types of Airbag Failures
Non-Deployment
The airbag should have deployed but did not. The crash met the deployment threshold, the system detected the impact, but the airbag remained packed in its housing while the occupant struck the steering wheel, dashboard, or other interior surfaces.
Non-deployment cases require proving that deployment would have reduced injuries. If the crash was so severe that the airbag would not have helped, non-deployment caused no additional harm. If the crash was minor enough that the airbag was not needed, non-deployment caused no harm.
The sweet spot for non-deployment claims involves moderate crashes where airbag protection would have prevented or reduced specific injuries that actually occurred.
Dangerous Deployment
The airbag deployed but caused injuries in the process. Airbags inflate at speeds approaching 200 mph. This explosive force can cause burns, abrasions, eye injuries, and blunt trauma. In extreme cases, airbag deployment itself causes fatal injuries.
Dangerous deployment claims often involve the angle or timing of inflation. An airbag that deploys too late catches the occupant out of position. One that deploys too forcefully in a minor crash causes injuries worse than the collision would have produced.
The Takata Disaster
The Takata airbag recall stands as the largest in automotive history. Over 67 million vehicles contained inflators prone to explosive rupture, spraying metal shrapnel into the vehicle cabin upon deployment.
At least 27 deaths in the United States have been linked to Takata inflator failures. Hundreds more suffered serious injuries from shrapnel wounds. The recall affected virtually every major automaker because Takata supplied inflators across the industry.
This ongoing recall continues to affect vehicles manufactured between 2002 and 2015. Many affected vehicles remain on the road with unrepaired, potentially lethal airbag systems. Vehicle owners should verify their VIN status through NHTSA’s recall lookup tool.
Establishing Airbag Defect
Product liability claims against airbag manufacturers require proving the airbag contained a defect that caused injury.
Sensor Defects
The crash sensors determine when deployment is appropriate. Sensors calibrated incorrectly may fail to trigger deployment in crashes that should activate the system, or may trigger deployment inappropriately in minor collisions.
Sensor mounting and wiring integrity affect function. Improperly positioned sensors or degraded electrical connections can prevent proper crash detection.
Inflator Defects
The inflator generates gas that fills the airbag. Chemical propellants must ignite reliably, burn at controlled rates, and produce the correct volume of gas. Inflator failures can result in no deployment, partial deployment, or explosive rupture.
Takata inflators used ammonium nitrate propellant that degraded in humid conditions. The degraded propellant burned too quickly, generating excessive pressure that ruptured metal inflator housings.
Design Defects
Airbag design involves tradeoffs between deployment force and protective effectiveness. A system designed to protect larger occupants may injure smaller ones. A system calibrated for high-speed impacts may cause injuries in low-speed collisions.
Early airbag designs caused numerous deaths among children and small adults. Design changes including depowered airbags, occupant sensing systems, and variable deployment force addressed these issues, but older vehicles remain at risk.
Enhanced Injury Claims
Many airbag cases involve enhanced injury rather than total causation. The underlying crash would have caused some injury regardless of airbag function. The airbag malfunction caused additional injury beyond what the crash alone would have produced.
Enhanced injury analysis requires medical expert testimony distinguishing injuries attributable to the crash from injuries attributable to airbag malfunction. This parsing of causation often becomes the central dispute in litigation.
Defense experts argue that claimed airbag injuries actually resulted from crash forces. Plaintiff experts attribute specific injury patterns to abnormal airbag behavior. Juries evaluate competing medical explanations.
Black Box Evidence
Modern vehicles record airbag system data before, during, and after crashes. This data reveals:
Pre-crash calibration and readiness status shows whether the system was functioning properly before impact. Error codes indicate prior malfunctions the driver may not have known about.
Crash severity measurements from the sensors document the forces the vehicle experienced. This data establishes whether the crash met deployment thresholds.
Deployment timing and status records confirm whether airbags fired, when they fired, and in what sequence. Non-deployment is documented as clearly as deployment.
Manufacturer Duty to Warn
Airbag manufacturers have duties to warn about known risks. Warning defects can exist even when the airbag itself functions as designed.
Risks to out-of-position occupants require warning. Passengers sitting too close to the dashboard, children in front seats, and rear-facing infant seats all face elevated risks from airbag deployment.
Known malfunction patterns require recall and notification. Manufacturers who learn of defect patterns must act promptly. Delay in issuing recalls exposes manufacturers to punitive damages claims.
Interaction with Other Claims
Airbag claims often accompany negligence claims against the driver who caused the crash. The negligent driver remains liable for causing the collision. The airbag manufacturer becomes liable for the portion of injury attributable to airbag malfunction.
Insurance coverage analysis becomes complex when multiple defendants and policies are involved. The collision tortfeasor’s liability insurance, the vehicle manufacturer’s product liability coverage, and the airbag manufacturer’s coverage all potentially apply.
Comparative fault principles allocate responsibility between collision causation and enhanced injury. A jury might find the collision defendant 70% responsible and the airbag manufacturer 30% responsible, with damages divided accordingly.
Preservation and Evidence
The airbag and its control module must be preserved after any crash where malfunction is suspected. Replaced or repaired airbag systems cannot be examined for defects.
Control modules contain data that can be downloaded by qualified technicians. This data extraction should occur before the vehicle is repaired, sold, or destroyed.
Photographs of the deployed airbag, its mounting points, and any damage provide evidence that supplements later expert examination.
Airbags exist to save lives. When they take lives instead, accountability requires tracing the failure to its source.
Sources:
- Airbag deployment speed (200 mph): NHTSA airbag performance standards
- Takata recall (67 million vehicles): NHTSA Recall 15V-884 and subsequent expansions
- Takata fatalities (27+ US deaths): NHTSA documented fatality reports
- Lives saved by airbags (approximately 50,000 cumulative): NHTSA effectiveness estimates