All new cars sold in the United States (and many developed countries) now have airbags. These devices decrease the incidence of fatal and serious injuries in front-end collisions. Quite a few vehicles now have side airbags as well, adding passenger protection during airbags should deploy in single vehicle accidents where the driver hits a fixed object and collisions with other vehicles.
Unfortunately, it seems that these life-saving devices do not always work as designed. In fact, defective airbags fail to protect many drivers and their passengers or injure people when they deploy during a vehicle accident. If a defective airbag causes an injury to you and your loved ones, you need to talk to a personal injury attorney immediately.
The National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration is the federal agency that is responsible for tracking accidents and injuries that result from airbags. Its database contains information about fatal and serious airbag injuries. The NHTSA has collected data on more than 1,200 cases of airbag failure and injury that occurred when airbags failed to deploy properly in both new and used vehicles. Consumers involved in airbag-related accidents and their attorneys can obtain these Special Crash Investigations reports from NHTSA. Police and law enforcement agencies also have access to this information, as each report is finished.
The NHTSA charges a small fee for you, the taxpayer, to obtain the results of their Special Crash Investigations. However, if you are seeking compensation for damages that resulted from a defective airbag, the price of the report should not be a deterrent for you. Airbags are supposed to provide additional protection for a vehicle's occupants. When they fail or cause injury, you need the information that NHTSA has compiled in order for your personal injury attorney to develop a viable claim for your damages.
For most people, the installed airbags function according to the manufacturers' specifications. If you are one of the unfortunate people who find out that your vehicle's airbag is defective, take steps to contact the NHTSA and find out why. Then, contact your accident attorney who can help you get compensation for your car accident injuries and damages.
NCSA's Special Crash Investigations (SCI) Program has provided the NHTSA, lawyers and consumers with the most in depth and detailed level of crash investigation data collected by the agency.