Airbags are intended to reduce the risk of catastrophic injuries during a collision. They work with seat belts to help prevent drivers and passengers from striking the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield, or other hard surfaces.
When an airbag is defective, however, it may fail to provide that protection. In some cases, the airbag itself can cause serious harm. An injured person may then face questions about whether their injuries resulted from the collision, the defective safety system, or a combination of both.
How Airbags Protect Vehicle Occupants
Airbags deploy rapidly when a vehicle’s sensors detect certain types of collisions. Modern vehicles may include frontal, side-impact, curtain, and knee airbags, each designed to protect particular areas of the body.
These systems depend on sensors, control modules, wiring, inflators, and fabric cushions working correctly. A problem with any component may affect whether an airbag deploys, when it deploys, or the amount of force it produces.
Airbags are supplemental restraint systems and are not substitutes for seat belts. Their effectiveness may depend on the direction and severity of the crash, the occupant’s position and size, and whether the person was properly restrained.
Common Types of Airbag Defects
One possible defect is a failure to deploy during a collision in which deployment would ordinarily be expected. Defective sensors, electrical failures, software problems, damaged wiring, or a faulty control module may prevent activation.
An airbag may also deploy unexpectedly or during an impact that does not require it. Sudden deployment can obstruct a driver’s view, contribute to a loss of control, or strike an occupant with significant force.
Other possible defects include delayed deployment, excessive force, incomplete inflation, improper positioning, and defective stitching. A malfunctioning inflator may also rupture and send metal fragments or other debris into the passenger compartment.
Airbag Recalls and Vehicle Safety
Large-scale recalls demonstrate how widely airbag defects can affect vehicle owners. More than eight million Takata airbag inflators have been recalled in Canada. Certain recalled inflators may rupture during deployment and propel metal fragments toward occupants.
A recall does not mean that every airbag in every affected vehicle will fail. It means that a safety-related defect or regulatory non-compliance has been identified in a particular group of vehicles or components.
Owners can check for outstanding recalls using the vehicle identification number (VIN) on the manufacturer’s recall website. Recall repairs are generally completed without charge.
Injuries Caused by Faulty Airbags
When an airbag does not deploy, an occupant may strike the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield, door, or another part of the vehicle. Resulting injuries may include traumatic brain injuries, facial fractures, spinal injuries, chest trauma, internal injuries, dental injuries, and lacerations.
Improper or forceful deployment may cause burns, bruising, hearing loss, eye injuries, fractures, and injuries to the face, neck, chest, hands, wrists, or arms. Children, smaller adults, older occupants, and people seated close to an airbag may face increased risks.
A ruptured inflator can cause penetrating injuries when fragments enter the vehicle cabin. These incidents may lead to severe bleeding, scarring, vision loss, organ damage, or fatal injuries.
When an Airbag Makes Collision Injuries Worse
A defective airbag claim does not always involve an injury caused entirely by the airbag. The initial collision may cause certain injuries, while the airbag malfunction causes additional harm or increases their severity.
For example, another driver may cause a front-end collision, but a defective airbag may fail to stop the occupant from striking the steering wheel. Alternatively, an airbag may deploy improperly and cause facial or chest injuries that would not otherwise have occurred.
These incidents may involve more than one potential source of legal responsibility. The actions of the driver who caused the crash may need to be considered separately from issues involving the airbag’s design, manufacture, installation, warnings, maintenance, or repair.
Product Liability and Defective Vehicle Components
Ontario product liability claims are generally assessed under the principles of negligence. Depending on the circumstances, a claim may involve an alleged manufacturing defect, unsafe design, inadequate testing, poor quality control, improper installation, or insufficient warning.
Manufacturers and suppliers may have a duty to warn people who could reasonably be affected by a dangerous product. The adequacy of a warning may depend on whether it clearly communicates the nature and seriousness of the risk.
A recall may be relevant to an investigation, but it does not automatically establish liability. Evidence is generally required to connect the alleged defect to the airbag’s performance and to the injuries being claimed.
Who May Be Involved in a Faulty Airbag Claim?
The parties involved depend on how the defect arose. An investigation may consider the vehicle manufacturer, airbag or inflator manufacturer, parts supplier, distributor, dealership, or repair facility.
A repair business may become relevant if an airbag was improperly installed, disabled, replaced with an unsuitable component, or incorrectly repaired after an earlier collision. Used and rebuilt vehicles may raise additional questions about whether safety components were removed, replaced, or altered.
Where another driver caused the collision, that driver and their insurer may also be involved. Medical and technical evidence may be needed to distinguish injuries caused by the crash from those caused or worsened by the airbag.
Preserving Evidence After an Airbag Malfunction
The damaged vehicle can be a significant source of evidence. Airbag modules, sensors, inflators, wiring, control units, seat belts, and related components may need to be inspected before the vehicle is repaired, dismantled, sold, or destroyed.
An event data recorder may contain information about speed, braking, impact forces, seat-belt use, and airbag deployment commands. Diagnostic codes and service records may also reveal previous warning lights or system problems.
Other relevant evidence may include photographs, medical records, police reports, witness statements, recall notices, repair invoices, maintenance documents, and communications with the manufacturer or dealership.
Reporting a Suspected Safety Defect
A person who suspects that an airbag or another vehicle component is defective may report the concern to Transport Canada. These reports can help regulators identify patterns involving similar vehicles or components.
Reporting a suspected defect is separate from pursuing compensation for an injury. Transport Canada may investigate the safety concern, while the individual circumstances of an injury claim must be assessed through the available medical, technical, and legal evidence.
Used-vehicle owners should also check for recalls directly. A recall notice may not reach someone who has moved, bought the vehicle second-hand, or has not updated their ownership information.
Time Limits for Ontario Injury Claims
Ontario civil claims are subject to limitation periods. In many circumstances, a lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date the claim was discovered, although the applicable deadline depends on the facts and applicable legal rules.
An airbag defect may not be immediately apparent. Injuries may initially be attributed entirely to the collision, with information about a malfunction emerging later through an inspection, recall notice, or technical investigation.
Delays can affect both legal rights and the availability of physical evidence. The timing of medical assessment, vehicle preservation, technical inspection, and legal review may therefore be important.
Injured by a Faulty Airbag in Ontario? Schedule a Consultation With Campbell Litigation
If you were injured in an Ontario car accident and believe that a faulty airbag failed to protect you or made your injuries worse, our experienced personal injury lawyer, Richard Campbell, can review the collision, the vehicle’s safety systems, and the available evidence.
Campbell Litigation assists clients with car accident claims, defective product claims, airbag injury claims, serious injury cases, and insurance disputes throughout Kitchener-Waterloo and communities across Southern Ontario. Contact us today by visiting us online or by calling 519.886.1204 to discuss an airbag failure, an unexpected deployment, a recalled inflator, or any other suspected vehicle defect.
