Weatherford Airbag Injury Lawyer
Airbags are an important safety feature that can save your life or avoid serious injuries in an accident.
Have you been injured in a car accident by a defective or faulty airbag that did not deploy? You may be entitled to compensation for the injuries you have suffered.
Jason Stephens of Stephens Law Firm, PLLC, is here to help you fight for the maximum compensation you deserve.
Contact the law office today to schedule a free case review with a Weatherford airbag injury lawyer to discuss your case. You can call us at (817) 409-7000.
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How a Weatherford Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help with Your Airbag Injury Case
Accident claims involving defective airbags should be straightforward, especially when there are already hundreds of reported injuries. Sadly, manufacturers do not always step up to claim responsibility and help consumers they have injured.
Airbag manufacturers may deny liability, companies may blame each other for defects, and insurance companies may downplay the severity of the injuries you have sustained.
A Weatherford personal injury lawyer can be invaluable in guiding you through the legal process and serving as an advocate to protect your rights and interests.
When you are facing a well-funded insurance company and major manufacturer, you deserve an experienced lawyer on your side to fight for the fair compensation you deserve.
Jason Stephens, founding attorney of Stephens Law Firm, PLLC, has over two decades of experience fighting for injured Weatherford consumers as an award-winning trial lawyer.
Stephens has received national recognition as a Texas Super Lawyer with the highest Martindale-Hubbel AV rating. He has also recovered some of the largest jury awards and settlements in state history for his clients.
Put the experience, expertise, and resources of Stephens Law Firm, PLLC to work for you to:
- Guide you through the claims process and offer experienced legal advice
- Handle all aspects of your case including paperwork
- Conduct an in-depth investigation of your accident
- Work alongside accident reconstruction and medical experts
- Handle all communications with the insurance company and negotiate on your behalf
- Present your case before a jury if your case goes to trial
Jason Stephens is not afraid to take your case to court and will not pressure you to accept a settlement offer that does not fully compensate you for your injuries. Contact Stephens Law Firm, PLLC today to schedule your free initial consultation with a passionate Weatherford airbag injury lawyer who will fight for you.
What Compensation Is Available for a Weatherford Defective Airbag Injury?
When a faulty airbag causes you injury, you have the right to seek compensation through a product liability claim and hold the manufacturer accountable. The compensation you can recover from a faulty airbag lawsuit will depend on the severity of your injuries and whether you are left with lasting effects or disability.
Accident victims can typically recover compensation for the following types of damages in a faulty airbag injury claim:
- Medical bills including rehabilitation, surgery, hospitalization, doctor bills, medical devices, and future anticipated costs associated with your injury
- Lost wages
- Reduced future earning capacity or disability
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
During your initial consultation with Jason Stephens, he will help you assess your case and understand what your claim may be worth. Contact Stephens Law Firm, PLLC today to schedule a free case review with a Weatherford defective airbag lawyer to discuss your case.
Why Do Airbags Fail?
An airbag is designed to quickly inflate when you are involved in a moderate or severe auto accident. In a collision, the airbag’s electronic control unit should send a signal to the inflator in the module. This begins a chemical reaction that produces a gas that inflates the airbag within 1/20th of a second.
There are many factors that determine when an airbag will activate including locations of crash sensors, the design of the airbag, and characteristics of the collision like impact direction and speed.
Airbags work with seat belts to dramatically reduce the risk that your head or body will strike the dashboard, windshield, or steering wheel in a crash. Frontal airbags have been standard on cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans since 1998/1999. Between 1987 and 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates they have saved more than 50,000 lives.
Sadly, sometimes airbags are defective and do not deploy as they should. A faulty airbag can cause serious or life-changing injuries by failing to deploy in a crash or even inflating with too much force or at the wrong time. Airbags may even deploy incorrectly during a non-frontal or low-speed collision.
What causes airbags to fail?
The most common airbag defects include:
- Faulty inflators, which can cause the airbag to explode or fail to inflate
- Defective sensors, which may cause the airbag to take longer than it should to inflate, prevent the airbag from deploying, or cause the airbag to deploy without an accident
- Abrasive materials, which can injure passengers when the airbag deploys
If you were injured by a defective airbag, Jason Stephens will work to identify the manufacturer of the airbag in your vehicle and help you build your claim.
Defective Airbags Are Not Always Recalled Appropriately
Unfortunately, manufacturers cannot always be relied upon to issue a prompt recall on vehicles or airbags that can hurt passengers. It may even take years after injuries and deaths are reported for a recall to occur.
In many cases, manufacturers are aware of defects but do not take proper steps to fix the issue or notify consumers. For example, General Motors issued a recall in 2016 on some 2009 and 2010 Chevrolet Impala vehicles due to a passenger presence sensory system that did not recognize when a passenger seat was occupied and disabled airbags.
The 2012 Chevrolet Impala was not initially included in the recall despite having the same defect.
The Takata airbag recall has a similar story. Hundreds of reports of Takata airbags exploding started in 2001. There were many reports of catastrophic injuries caused by metal shards expelled through airbags, but Takata airbags are still causing injuries decades later.
Defective Takata Airbag Injury Claims
The largest recall of airbags in U.S. history affects Takata airbags. About 63 million vehicles contained Takata airbags which were found to be defective due to the use of ammonium nitrate, a highly combustible and unstable propellant used to inflate the airbags. Takata airbags can inflate so violently that they explode, rupturing the propellant’s metal canister and essentially creating metal shrapnel that explodes within the passenger compartment.
These metal shards can cause life-changing or serious wounds to the chest, neck, head, and face. Regulators determined that Takata failed to alert regulators and consumers of the serious defects in their airbags.
Vehicles from over 30 manufacturers were affected by the recall, most notably Honda which had the most vehicles with defective airbags. The defective Takata airbags have been linked to 11 deaths and 180 injuries. Texas leads the country in defective airbag injuries as the humidity and heat in Texas increases the risk of the unstable gas.
Certain vehicles are at a higher risk for an exploding airbag than others. This includes some 2001 to 2003 Honda and Acura vehicles, Mazda B-Series vehicles, and the 2006 Ford Ranger. The NHTSA recommends that these vehicles should not be used at all until they can be repaired.
What Are the Most Common Airbag Injuries?
When an airbag does not deploy as it should or deploys incorrectly, the injuries can be severe and even fatal.
Stephens Law Firm, PLLC represents airbag injury victims who have suffered:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury and other catastrophic injuries
- Fractures, including facial fractures and fractured collar bones
- Eye injuries
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Burns
- Tinnitus or hearing damage
- Wrongful death
If you or someone you love has been injured by a defective airbag, contact Jason Stephens, a defective airbag injury lawyer in Weatherford, to help you.
What’s the Statute of Limitations For Filing an Airbag Injury Lawsuit in Texas?
There is a strict two-year statute of limitations to file a personal injury lawsuit or product liability claim in Texas. If you do not file your claim within two years of your accident, you will lose your right to seek compensation through the legal system.
Two years may sound like a long time, but it can be very easy for crucial evidence to be lost during this time. It’s important to consult with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to investigate your case and document and preserve evidence establishing causation and liability.
Request a Free Consultation with a Weatherford Airbag Injury Lawyer
When you are injured due to a defective lawsuit, the financial burden of your injuries should not be on your shoulders. Jason Stephens has spent decades fighting for injured victims in Weatherford, Texas, and has recovered record settlements and jury awards on behalf of his clients.
Contact Stephens Law Firm, PLLC to schedule your free case review with a Weatherford airbag injury lawyer who can help you.