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NHTSA Report Indicates Widespread Airbag Failures

A new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that there have been more widespread airbag failures in auto accidents in the US than California car accident attorneys had previously estimated. An investigation by a television station who analyzed data from an internal report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that air bags failed in about 576 accidents over a six-year period.

The report was obtained by investigators under the Freedom of Information Act. The report is titled “Fatalities in Frontal Crushes without Airbag Deployment.” According to the report, between 2001 and 2006, there have been an estimated 576 fatal accidents in which airbags failed to deploy. In at least 360 of those cases, if the airbags had deployed, it would have saved the life of the victim. Even the 576 estimate is a stretch. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration based its study on a few accidents. The actual number of such airbag failures therefore, could be much higher.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analyzed every fatal accident involving airbag failures, that occurred between 2001 and 2006. There were 1,446 such fatal accidents in which police believed that airbags did not deploy in frontal impact crashes. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration felt that all of this data was not accurate enough, so it considered just a small sampling of the total number of fatal accidents in which airbag deployment could have been a factor. The 576 estimate comes from this small sampling.

Auto safety experts, who have investigated these widespread airbag failures, believe that there must be thousands of incidents around the country when airbags failed to deploy during an accident. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the number of front passenger and motorist fatalities in which the front airbags failed to deploy is definitely a matter of concern. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety wants further examination and analysis of airbag system components as well as investigations of vehicles with airbag deployment failures to understand the reasons for these failures.

Airbag deployment failures are a serious matter of concern. However, investigating the cause of an airbag deployment failure can be extremely complex. For instance, there is not a single denominator in all these airbag deployment failures. A number of things can go wrong. From sensors to wiring, airbag failures can be traced to a number of malfunctions, and all of these can cause deployment failure.

What the report does confirm is that airbag failures are much more frequent than we know. Airbags are now standard on most automobiles, but if they fail to deploy during an accident, motorists and front seat passengers can be at serious risk of an injury.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of airbag failures. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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