Defective Airbag Lawyers

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

Automobile airbags can sometimes cause severe injuries and even death.

Even though airbags have been credited with saving lives, these devices have problems, including the following:

• Airbags that deploy when they should not.
• Airbags that deploy with too much force.
• Airbags that deploy too slowly.
• Airbags that deploy in low-speed accidents.
• Airbags that fail to deploy.

If you or someone you know suffered a severe airbag injury or death, you may want to contact an airbag attorney for a free evaluation of your case.

Because airbags must inflate very rapidly to be effective – generally at speeds greater than 100 m.p.h. – they are thrust from the steering wheel or dashboard with terrific force. That force may result in injury, often merely burns or bruises, but sometimes severe injuries such as ruptured eyeballs and blindness, or even death. Victims are often children or smaller passengers.

And in some of these cases it is the airbag or related devices such as sensors that are at fault. A number of vehicles have been recalled because of air bag problems and some victims have successfully sued auto manufacturers for their injuries.

In one well-publicized airbag trial, a jury in November 2003 found Ford Motor Co. negligent and awarded $3.3 million in the case of a woman who suffered fatal chest injuries when the airbag in her Ford Taurus deployed in a low speed (9 m.p.h.) accident. The woman was 5-foot-9 and had been wearing a seat belt.

General Motors in late 2000 recalled 224,000 Cadillac Devilles to replace side-impact sensing modules considered faulty, with the possibility they could cause airbags to suddenly deploy or no reason or to fail to deploy at all.

In 2001, Daimler Chrysler recalled 216,000 pickup trucks because of problems with driver-side airbags. NHTSA said that some of the trucks contained material inside steering wheels that could cause the driver’s side airbag to become disabled.

Ford Motor Co. in 2003 said it would recall more than 43,000 Lincoln Continentals (model years 1999 and 2000) because airbags might have deployed inadvertently in the cars. Federal officials said some of the airbags were triggered by gravel or debris hitting underbody sensors.

In the same year, after a lengthy investigation, Nissan agreed to replace airbags in certain 1994 and 1995 Altima models after a reported 37 people suffered eye injuries when the airbags deployed, with two passengers suffering permanent blindness.

Hyundai Motor Co. recalled 240,000 Elantra sedans in September 2005 because of airbag problems. In that case, the problem was a computer on the passenger side that could mistake a child restraint seat as an adult, potentially causing harm to a baby. (The computer miscalculation was thought to occur when the child seat was placed on the passenger side after an adult had occupied the seat.) Later in the same month, NHTSA called for 73,000 Kia LD Spectras to be recalled for the same problem.

Honda Motor Co. recalled 85,000 2005 model minivans when it was found that water could leak into external sensors and cause corrosion, resulting in late deployment or failure of the front airbags to deploy in an accident.

Kline & Specter, P.C., with some 30 experienced attorneys, several of whom are also highly regarded doctors, is one of the nation's leading law firms with the ability to litigate auto accident and airbag cases.

Click here to contact an airbag lawyer today.

Click here to learn More About Airbags from NHTSA.

---

Kline & Specter handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and Nationwide, working with local attorneys in states outside PA, NJ and NY.

In Pennsylvania, Kline & Specter handles cases in and around: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Chester, Doylestown, Drexel Hill, Easton, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Johnstown, Lancaster, Levittown, McCandless, McKeesport, Monroeville, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Radnor, Reading, Scranton, State College, West Chester, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport and York.

In New Jersey, the firm handles cases in and around: Atlantic City, Bayonne, Brick Township, Camden, Cherry Hill, Clifton, Edison, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, Jersey City, Lakewood, Millville, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, Pennsauken, Plainfield, Toms River, Trenton, Union, Vineland, Voorhees and Willingboro.