Port St. Lucie Auto Accident Airbag Injuries and Lawsuits

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the past few months, you’ve probably heard quite a bit about defective Takata airbags causing personal injury and even death during car accidents. Millions of vehicles produced by seventeen different car manufacturers have been recalled due to defective deflators that propel sharp metal shrapnel during deployment.

This issue is far from the only hazard that airbags can present to drivers and occupants. Airbag deployment can cause injury in other ways:

• Severe eye injuries have been known to occur from hard impacts
• Burns and abrasions can result from rapid deployment
• The chemicals released during airbag deployment can trigger or worsen asthma attacks
• Even properly deployed airbags have been shown to cause severe (and sometimes fatal) injuries if the driver is very close to the steering wheel
• Sometimes injury occurs from faulty sensors that can prevent the airbag from opening at all

Legal options if you have suffered an airbag-related injury in Port St. Lucie

Filing a personal injury claim may help you to recover losses suffered in your auto accident. To have a case, you will need to meet the standard requirements for a negligence lawsuit. This means being able to prove that your injury was a direct result of the negligence of another party. Your injury alone will not serve as proof of fault or that someone else was negligent.

There are three parties that could potentially be targeted for your suit:

• the manufacturer of the car
• the manufacturer of the airbag
• the party who did post-purchase maintenance, inspection or replacement of the airbag

What to do if you’ve been injured by a malfunctioning airbag

First and foremost, you need to make certain that all parts of the airbag are preserved. Do not allow either the airbag itself, the sensor or any other components to be disposed of under any circumstances, as they will be essential to your case. It’s also very important to ensure that your car’s computer chip is not reset or cleared.

If possible, don’t allow your vehicle to be scrapped at the junkyard or transferred to the possession of the insurance company. In general, if your car has been declared totaled, the insurer will require your car be turned over to them. The burden of proof will be yours, however, and the case will be much more difficult to make if you do not have the vehicle, computer and airbag available as evidence.

Finding an experienced personal injury lawyer will also be critical to your case. Gloria Seidule has been fighting for the rights of those who have been injured in car accidents for over 25 years in the Port St. Lucie and Treasure Coast area. Her skill and personal attention will be an invaluable resource for you in the pursuit of your compensation. Call today for a free, no-obligation consultation. There are never any fees if you don’t win. 772-287-1220.