Car Accident Airbag Injuries

Airbags are designed to protect you from serious injuries in the event of a vehicle collision. Unfortunately, they can also cause injuries, both when they work as intended and when they fail to do so. Airbag injuries can result in significant medical costs, force you to miss work, and have consequences that last a lifetime.

If you’ve suffered injuries from airbags in a collision, a Chicago car accident attorney can help you pursue the compensation you deserve. Contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. for a free consultation to discuss your case and learn more about your legal options.

How Working with an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Can Make a Difference

Recovering from an airbag injury takes time and can drain your energy. You deserve to be able to focus on healing without having to worry about your legal case. The attorneys at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. can make a difference in your life by shouldering the burden of navigating the legal system, allowing you to focus solely on your physical recovery.

For 40 years, we’ve fought to secure fair compensation for injury victims and have recovered over $2.5 billion for clients in verdicts and settlements. Our more than 350 multi-million-dollar recoveries include vehicle collision and product liability cases of the type you might file in the event of airbag injuries.

How Do Airbags Work? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, airbags reduce driver fatalities. Frontal airbags alone have saved over 50,000 lives in the last three decades. Frontal airbags protect drivers and front-seat passengers from suffering life-threatening injuries, while side airbags prevent vehicle occupants from suffering serious injuries wherever they are located in the vehicle.

Airbags are designed to work together with seat belts in passenger vehicles. An airbag deploys in a moderate to severe crash to protect vehicle occupants. Sometimes, airbags deploy in even

minor crashes. Airbags prevent vehicle occupants from striking their head or upper body on a hard surface in the vehicle, but seat belts are also necessary to ensure they stay in place.

When the crash sensor in a vehicle is activated, a signal from the airbag sensor goes to the airbag module in the vehicle to inflate the airbag. An igniter in the inflator begins a chemical reaction that quickly inflates the bag. The bag suddenly appears, preventing vehicle occupants from crashing their bodies inside the vehicle.

How Can Airbags Cause Injuries?

Vehicles are required to have front airbags to protect drivers and front-seat passengers. Some also have side airbags. Airbags for rear-seat passengers are slowly being introduced to provide additional protection.

Unfortunately, a variety of factors can lead to injuries from airbags, including:

  • Defective airbags – A defective airbag may fail to deploy when a crash occurs, which can cause crash victims to slam into the steering wheel, dashboard, or other hard surface. Defective airbags could also unexpectedly deploy while driving, actually causing car accidents.
  • Faulty airbags – A faulty airbag may cause the airbag to deploy belatedly, so car occupants may suffer serious injuries by striking a hard surface and then secondary injuries from the force of the airbag.
  • Installation errors – Airbags that are not installed properly can result in an airbag malfunction that threatens the safety of the car occupants.

Airbags can cause injury even in the process of saving your life. They deploy very quickly, so serious injuries and even fatal injuries sometimes occur if the driver or passenger is too close to the airbag when it deploys.

Consequences of Airbag Injuries

Airbag injuries to the face and body can have serious consequences for victims. While some airbag injuries may not need much professional care, others require significant, time-consuming, and expensive medical treatment. This can be very disruptive to your finances, your employment, and your health.

Your attorney will consider the consequences of your injuries when developing your airbag injury case. Much will depend on the circumstances of the collision and the severity of your injuries.

Diagnosing Airbag Injuries and Treatment Options

Given the variety of possible injuries airbags can cause, it’s no surprise that you may need multiple types of treatment following a collision. When you seek treatment for your airbag injuries, your doctor will perform an examination to identify the best course of treatment. The nature of your injuries will largely determine how they’ll be treated and what you’ll need to do to move your recovery along. Some possible approaches to treatment include:

  • Cleaning and dressing wounds to prevent infection and promote healing
  • Using ice and heat to reduce swelling
  • Performing surgery to remove shrapnel
  • Prescribing pain relief medication
  • Assigning physical therapy

It’s essential that you follow your doctor’s instructions as you work through treatment for your airbag injuries.

Common Airbag Injuries

Airbags can cause severe injuries, even when they deploy correctly. Some of the most common injuries airbags cause to vehicle occupants include:

  • Facial injuries, bruises, fractures, and lacerations
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Head and neck injuries
  • Chemical burns or injuries to the eyes or skin
  • Severe burns, including thermal burns and/or friction burns
  • Chest injuries
  • Broken bones
  • Wrist injuries
  • Embedding of shrapnel
  • Eye injuries
  • Hearing loss
  • Temporary or permanent blindness
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Internal injuries
  • Respiratory issues due to chemical exposure, including asthma attacks
  • Loss of pregnancy
  • Driver fatalities

Your airbags are designed to work in tandem with your seat belt and, at crash test speeds, have been proven to reduce injuries, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many of these injuries become more likely — and are more likely to result in significant injury — when you don’t wear a seat belt.

Who Is Responsible for Airbag Injuries?

Two main parties may be responsible for your airbag injuries: the at-fault driver and the airbag manufacturer. Airbag injuries are just some of the injuries you may suffer in a collision. When another driver acted with disregard and caused your collision, you can seek compensation for your injuries. Whether your airbag worked as intended isn’t a factor.

However, if your airbag malfunctioned, broke during deployment, or failed to deploy at all, you may have grounds to file a product liability lawsuit against the airbag or automobile manufacturer to seek compensation.

Compensation You Can Recover from an Airbag Personal Injury Claim

Following a collision in which you sustained an airbag injury, you may seek compensation if another party is liable for your injuries. You may be able to recover compensation for the following damages:

  • Current, ongoing, and anticipated future medical expenses
  • Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
  • Property damage
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of quality of life
  • Disfigurement

Determining how much compensation to seek is a task your attorney will handle. They’ll review all the evidence of your case and arrive at a dollar amount that fairly and accurately represents your total losses.

Contact an Attorney About Your Airbag Injuries

If you’ve been injured in a vehicle collision and are facing physical and emotional challenges related to the deployment of your airbags, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. can help. We represent clients in injury and product liability cases and will pursue the compensation you deserve, whether we can reach a settlement or take your case to trial. Contact us today to discuss your airbag injuries in a free consultation and learn more about how we’ll work to fight for justice in your case.