Airbag Shrapnel/Metal Fragments Injuries

We Help Drivers and Passengers Seek Just Compensation for Airbag Shrapnel Injuries

Defective airbags present several risks. Along with the risk of deploying without warning and exploding with extreme force during a collision, defective airbags can also send plastic shards and metal fragments flying through the cabin. These shards and fragments can strike drivers and passengers at high speeds, leaving them with severe airbag shrapnel injuries. The shards and metal fragments are often referred to as “shrapnel.”

If you have suffered airbag shrapnel injuries caused by an exploding or defective airbag, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our firm handles all types of airbag injury claims against all airbag and automobile manufacturers. Lead airbag injury lawyer, David P. Willis is a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer since 1988 and has been representing injured clients against product makers and the automobile manufacturers for 40+ years.

Common Injuries Caused By Plastic Shards and Metal Fragments

Airbags deploy at speeds of up to 200 mph. When they explode due to airbag defects, they can deploy much faster and with great energy. This can cause fragments of airbags’ inflation systems, steering wheels, dashboards and other vehicle components to shatter, to violently impact these metal shards and plastic fragments into drivers’ and passengers’ faces, eyes, necks and bodies.

Due to the extreme forces involved, this can cause serious injuries in many cases. For example, some of the most common types of airbag shrapnel injuries include:

• Deep lacerations requiring stitches or sutures
• Eye, ear and nose injuries (including injuries resulting in blindness and other impairments)
• Facial injuries resulting in permanent scarring and disfigurement
• Facial, Head and Neck Fractures
• Nerve damage
• Soft tissue damage
• Puncturing of a carotid artery on each side of the neck
• Death

Treatment for these (and other) types of airbag shrapnel injuries can be extremely expensive, and injured drivers and passengers can face difficult roads to recovery. Severe and painful injuries can also interfere with all aspects of accident victims’ daily lives, from doing chores at home to doing their jobs at work. For those who suffer permanent scars, this can have long-term consequences as well, as many people struggle to accept that their appearance has been forever changed due to a company’s carelessness or neglect.

Airbag Shrapnel Injuries: What You Need to Know

If you have suffered airbag-related injuries from shrapnel, fragments or shards in a vehicle accident, it is important to make sure you know what you need to do to protect yourself. Here are some key facts for accident victims and their families:

1. The Safety Issues with Airbags Are Well-Known

The safety issues that lead to injuries from plastic shards and metal fragments during airbag deployments and explosions are well-known. In recent years there have been several airbag recalls related specifically to these issues.

Takata airbag defects have been responsible for numerous serious and fatal injuries across the United States in what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has called “the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history.”

Most recently, NHTSA and other safety groups are urging ARC Automotive Inc. (“ARC”) to recall over 50 million defective airbags after a driver’s death was linked to shrapnel created by an ARC airbag explosion.

Airbags are intended to keep us safe but defects can lead them to cause more harm. If you are dealing with airbag shrapnel injuries from these or other airbag recalls, you are not alone.

2. Many Accident Victims Have Filed Successful Claims for Airbag Shrapnel Injuries

Many drivers and passengers who have suffered airbag shrapnel injuries have already filed successful claims for just compensation. Airbag and automobile manufacturers are “strictly liable” for selling defective airbags—which means that they can be sued when defective airbags cause serious injuries. The majority of these cases have settled without going to court.

3. You May Be Entitled to Significant Financial Compensation

If you have a claim for a serious airbag injury related to an airbag defect, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. Drivers and passengers can seek just compensation for all of their financial and non-financial losses. With airbag shrapnel injuries typically leading to long-term medical needs, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses, it will be well worth filing a claim or lawsuit in most cases.

4. Hiring a Lawyer Costs Nothing Out-of-Pocket

When you have a claim for airbag-related injuries, you don’t have to try to handle your claim on your own. You can hire a lawyer to help you—and you can do so at no out-of-pocket cost. At Willis Law Firm Airbag Injury Lawyers, we handle all injury claims on contingency, which means our clients pay nothing unless we help them recover just compensation.

5. The Sooner You Take Action, the Better

To maximize your chances of recovering just compensation, you should take action as soon as possible. This starts with hiring a lawyer to represent you. Once you hire a lawyer, your lawyer will work quickly to gather the evidence needed to prove liability and calculate your losses, and then your lawyer will fight to recover just compensation on your behalf. Destruction or loss of the vehicle or other critical evidence can prove costly; and, if you wait too long, you can lose your right to seek the financial compensation you deserve.

Compensation for the Pain, Suffering and Emotional Trauma of Airbag Shrapnel Injuries

While airbag shrapnel injuries can lead to expensive medical bills, for many victims, the most significant impacts of their injuries are their pain, suffering and emotional trauma. Suffering severe lacerations or puncture wounds in a vehicle accident can be extremely traumatic; and, for many victims, their trauma never fully goes away. They deal with chronic pain or disfigurement on a daily basis, and they face constant reminders of how their injuries have changed their lives.

Although it is not possible to “add up” the costs of living with severe traumatic injuries, these are losses for which financial compensation is available. In fact, for many accident victims, their non-financial losses will account for the greatest portion of their claim for just compensation. At Willis Law Firm Airbag Injury Lawyers, we are passionate about helping our clients recover. We will do everything we can to make sure you have the financial resources you need to move on, and we will help you make informed decisions with your long-term needs and best interests in mind.

Get Started with a Free, No-Obligation Consultation

If you need to know more about your legal rights after suffering injuries due to an airbag deployment or explosion, we encourage you to contact us promptly. Once you get in touch, we will arrange for you to speak with a lawyer in confidence as soon as possible. To schedule your free initial consultation at Willis Law Firm Airbag Injury Lawyers, give us a call or send us a message online today.