How To Prove Product Liability For Defective Airbags
Product defects are one of the major causes of car accidents in the United States.
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, one of the most common safety defect complaint that they receive are about airbags.
Airbag problems include its failure to deploy, deploying too early or does not inflate at all.
In some cases, the airbag even explodes in the persons face.
Although credited with saving lives, the NHTSA recognizes the dangers that are inherent to the car safety product.
How does airbags work?
The purpose of the airbags has changed throughout the years since its invention.
The airbag used to be seen as a substitute for seatbelts; now with more research and innovations, it is discovered that airbags are more effective if used with conjunction with the safety belt.
So while the seat belt keeps the person on his seat, the airbags stops his momentum after a crash.
The frontal airbags prevent the driver from hitting the steering wheel while the side airbags protect the body and legs of the passengers.
To trigger the airbag, the car usually has a sensor that makes the airbag deploy if it hits another car or another object with at least equal force.
The airbag deploys upon collision at 100 mph with nitrogen gas inflating the airbag within a millisecond.
After that, the airbag automatically deflates as the nitrogen gas escapes through tiny holes.
Product Liability of Manufacturers
Under product liability, the law does not require the plaintiff to prove the negligence of the manufacturers.
That would be next to impossible, with the manufacturing process guarded extremely well by the companies.
Instead, the plaintiffs are asked to prove that the defect on the airbags does exist and that it caused the injuries.
There are two types of product defect; they are:
Manufacturing defects These are safety concerns that occurred during the production of the airbags. This means that there was a mistake during the manufacturing process. It may affect the whole batch of products or it may just affect a few.
Design defects These are safety concerns that occurred during the designing of the product. This means that the owners did not realize that the design had an inherent danger when they produced the airbags. This type of defect affects the whole batch of products with the same design.
To prove the defect of the airbags, the plaintiff will need to prove the following:
The airbag had a manufacturing or design defect that is dangerous to the consumer.
The dangerous airbag defect caused the plaintiffs injuries.
The injury occurred while the airbag was used for its intentional purpose.
The car had not gone through substantial changes from its original condition.
Proving that a product defect is the cause of an injury can be very complicated. You should seek the help of a product liability lawyer to help you in your lawsuit.
by: Mark Dacanay
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