Sumter Airbag Lawyer
Sometimes, safety innovations make car crash injuries worse instead of better. When that happens, a Sumter airbag lawyer from the Stanley Law Group stands up for victims, before, during, and after these matters go to court.
As soon as you reach out to us, we reach out to our professional partners, like doctors, so you recover from your injuries as quickly as possible. Then, we diligently build a strong case that supports your claims and refutes possible defenses. Finally, when the case goes to court, we do not relent until we obtain the best possible results under the circumstances. Usually, this result is a favorable out-of-court settlement.
This settlement usually includes compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. The attorneys at the Stanley Law Group often obtain additional punitive damages in airbag injury claims as well.
Sumter Airbag Lawyers and Manufacturer Liability
Liability is essentially legal responsibility for injury. If an attorney fails to identify the proper party, by the time s/he corrects the error, the statute of limitations may have expired, leaving the victims with no legal options. Therefore, a little extra time spent at the beginning of the case could make a significant difference as to the outcome. Several parties could be responsible for airbag injuries.
Most of today’s airbag injuries involve Takata airbags, and specifically a manufacturing defect in these airbags.
A proper chemical propellant is probably the most important airbag ingredient. In a crash, the airbag must fully inflate in less than a half-second. However, the airbag must not over-inflate.
For many years, Takata used a stable, yet expensive, chemical propellant that checked both these boxes. A controlled chemical burst inflated the airbag rapidly. Then, to save money, the company switched to ammonium nitrate in the late 1990s. This unstable chemical is the same compound Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City truck bomb in 1995. Ammonium nitrate is inherently unstable, and even more unstable in warm, humid climates, like the climate in South Carolina.
As a result, Takata airbags sometimes exploded, even in low-speed collisions, showering front seat occupants with shrapnel from the destroyed steering column.
After defective airbags killed or seriously injured several hundred people, Takata admitted responsibility and paid a huge fine. Most vehicles with defective Takata airbags have been recalled and fixed. But for two big reasons, about eight million of these vehicles are still on the road. More on that below.
Sometimes, the sensor is defective. Defective sensors trigger airbag inflation in cases like a parking lot fender bender. The airbag could seriously injure passengers, especially children.
Defective sensors and other airbag components could be manufacturing or design defects. In most cases, the company is strictly liable for both kinds of injuries.
Individual Liability
People still drive vehicles with defective airbags mostly for one of two reasons. They didn’t get the airbag recall notice or the mechanic didn’t properly repair it.
Most defective Takata airbags were installed between 2000 and 2010. Many of these vehicles have changed owners at least two or three times. Takata sent recall notices to record owners. If the record owner negligently failed to inform the current owner, the prior owner could be liable for damages.
Mechanics could be individually liable as well. Usually, manufacturers pay mechanics very little money to do such repairs. So, the repair job may be inadequate, especially if the mechanic had little experience with airbags and other such components.
A lawsuit against an individual might be a better approach in these cases. South Carolina has a statute of repose that gives many defective product injury victims eight years from the manufacturing date to file legal actions.
Count on a Dedicated Sumter County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Sumter airbag lawyer, contact the Stanley Law Group. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.
