Types of Airbag Defects

As manufacturers continue to cut costs on production, the product itself will continue to suffer. There are a wide variety of airbag defects that have been reported since the late 1990's when they became a standard for all vehicles. Here is a closer look at some of those defects.

• Untimely Deployment: In order for an airbag to work properly, it must be fully inflated before contact with the passenger. Due to faulty sensors and wiring system design, airbags have been known to deploy at the wrong time. With some designs, crash sensors will trigger the deployment at 7 to 15 mph, causing severe injuries to an unsuspecting passenger (newer designs trigger at 15 to 18 mph). With other designs, the airbag will fail to inflate all together, leaving the passenger vulnerable to severe injury or death.
  
  In an effort to save money on production costs, manufacturers were intentionally leaving some sensors out of the design. The remaining sensors acted overly sensitive, causing untimely deployments.
  
  
• Horizontal Inflation: In some cases, the airbag will inflate directly into the head of shorter person or child. A safe design would inflate the airbag vertically, keeping clear of the passenger's head.
  
  Many manufacturers failed to test their airbag systems with dummies that represent infants, children and smaller adults. This negligence is being blamed for the alarming number of smaller individuals that are being killed or injured by defective airbags.
  
  
• Airbags without Tethers: Tethers are straps sewn inside the airbag which make the protective piece inflate away from the passengers face and eyes. Untethered airbags were quite common when airbags were first introduced, however they no longer represent an acceptable design. Tethers allow airbags to inflate in a flatter, pillow shape (rather than a large rounded basketball shape that is common for untethered airbags) that is much safer for the passengers.

An airbag defect may be responsible for your injuries if any of the following factors are present following an auto accident:

• The airbag deployed in a collision slower than 10 miles per hour
• The frontal airbag failed to deploy with obvious damage to the front bumper
• The side torso or head airbag failed to deploy with obvious damage to the side of the vehicle
• The side head airbag failed to deploy in a rollover crash
• The occupant is severely injured despite or because of airbag deployment.