Eastern Kentucky Airbag Injury Attorney

In fact, front airbags have been required on all new passenger cars since the 1998 model year and all SUV’s, pickups and vans since the 1999 model year. Unfortunately, airbags also pose a serious injury risk to a vehicle’s occupants. During a car accident, airbags deploy with such force that they can damage a variety of body parts and cause more injury than the actual collision.

If you or a loved one has suffered an airbag injury, it is important to contact a KY injury attorney. The attorneys at the Johnson Law Firm can help by reviewing your case and discussing all available legal options. Call us toll free at 606-437-4488 and you can also contact us by filling out this form. We’re ready to help with a free initial consultation. We handle accident claims from anywhere in Kentucky, with a concentration in Pikeville and surrounding areas.

How Does An Airbag Work?

Airbags are based on the idea of using a cushion as a way of protecting the human body from blunt force trauma. When a car is moving forward and hits something, its motion is stopped while inertia continues to carry forward the people in the car. The goal of an airbag is to spread out deceleration across a person’s body and lessen the force experienced on impact.

Vehicles with airbags are fitted with numerous crash sensors that constantly monitor various automotive systems and send data to the airbag control unit (ACU). When a certain threshold is met or exceeded and the ACU determines an accident has occurred, inflation of the airbag is triggered. The airbag then gets squeezed between the person and the dashboard, begins to deflate, and cools. The whole process happens extremely rapidly and with the force of close to 200 miles per hour.

Airbag Injury Causes

The crash sensors are the most important part of any airbag’s success. If the sensors malfunction, they can either cause a deployment failure in a genuine accident or a premature deployment when there is no crash. There have been occurrences of improper deployments where vehicles traveling at high speeds hit a deep pothole or were crossing train tracks.

Airbags can also cause injuries because of the size or position of the person involved, such as drivers of shorter heights who tend to sit closer to the steering wheel.

A well-publicized recent recall of 12 million vehicles was due to defective Takata airbags, which could explode suddenly and send metal fragments flying into the passenger compartment. Several deaths and more than 100 injuries have been linked to these airbags.

Airbag injuries can be very serious. Many are likely to be fatal or to cause permanent impairment. Examples include:

• Bruising of the torso, knees, face or internal organs
• Burns
• Fractures in the rib cage, arms or skull
• Concussions
• Traumatic brain injury
• Eye damage
• Ear injuries or hearing loss
• Internal bleeding
• Throat irritations, coughing fits or asthma attacks
• Irritation of the skin (airbag dermatitis)
• Scarring and disfigurement.

Contact Our Eastern Kentucky Airbag Injury Lawyers

If you were injured or lost a loved one due to an exploding airbag in a car, SUV or truck, the Pikeville airbag injury lawyers of the Johnson Law Firm can help you obtain financial compensation. The compensation available in a defective airbag claim may include payment of medical bills, compensation for lost wages and future lost income, compensation for pain and suffering and for emotional distress. If you lost a loved one due to airbag injuries, you could be entitled to compensation in a wrongful death claim.

We have been successfully litigating personal injury cases across Kentucky since 1998. Our job is to examine the circumstances of what caused the accident while focusing on our client’s future. With our experience, we know how to seek compensation from all possible sources and we will carefully calculate your past, current and future losses to get you the best possible recovery. Let us help you. For a free consultation with a knowledgeable Pike County airbag injury attorney, call the Johnson Law Firm toll-free at 606-437-4488, locally at 606-437-4488, or fill out this contact form.