Defective Airbags
The Most Common Injuries from Airbags
Published February 20, 2013Reducing the number of injuries and death in vehicle accidents makes sense for many parties in many countries. Automakers want to make their vehicles safer so that people will buy them, and also to stay out of the courts, where expensive lawsuits and horrible publicity await. Drivers want safer vehicles because they know that not everyone on the road is as careful as they, and they don’t want to end [...]
Where Airbags Fit Into the Vehicle Collision Spectrum
Published October 20, 2012The mechanics of an airbag’s deployment might seem simple enough, but the instantaneous inflation of an airbag is just one small step in the many occurrences that transpire when a vehicle hits an object or another vehicle. Understanding where airbags fit into this timeline can help us to understand how injuries occur from airbag deployment and what changes need to be made to further enhance the airbag’s safety rating. To [...]
General Info on Airbags
Published November 2, 2011Airbags can be lifesavers when they deploy correctly, do not shred, impact your body squarely, etc. However, the technology behind them has proven to be far more tricky than most auto manufacturers have anticipated, and the number of problems with airbags and the quantity of lawsuits that have resulted are numerous. About 2.5% of drivers in vehicle crashes suffer a serious injury due to airbag deployment, according to a study [...]
Short? Tall? An Airbag Can Seriously Hurt You
Published October 20, 2011No one would argue for the removal of airbags from vehicles. They have saved too many lives over the years, more than 25,000 between 1975, when they were first used, to 2007. That’s an average of nearly 1,000 people per year, whose families are surely grateful for the invention of the airbag. However, other studies are finding that airbags can actually cause injury, not simply prevent death. With the advanced [...]
The Checkered History of the Airbag
Published May 20, 2011Since its invention in the 1950s, the airbag has been both hailed as a lifesaver and criticized as an injury-causer. Here are a few facts about the history of the airbag and the lessons that can be drawn from the development of this technology. A Brief Timeline of the Airbag 1951—German engineer Walter Linderer designs an airbag that would trigger if contact is made with the bumper of a car [...]
