Airbags Fail To Deploy During Car Accident Causing Critical Injuries

Case Overview

This case involves a couple that suffered traumatic brain injuries during a car accident. The couple was traveling across the country on an extended road trip in a compact car. While in Colorado, the couple was involved in a head-on collision with a highway guard-rail. Upon impact, the airbags in their car did not deploy. The passenger was thrown from the car and both the driver and the passenger were left in critical condition. An expert in airbag failure analysis was sought to inspect the vehicle and opine on what might have caused the airbags not to deploy.

Questions to the Automotive expert and their responses

Please briefly describe your experience examining and opining on airbag failure.

I have been in the automotive industry testing and evaluating airbags for 23+ years. My in-depth knowledge of the design, construction, and function of airbags makes me uniquely qualified to examine airbags for failure. During any vehicle and airbag system inspection, the most important factors to consider are collision details (i.e. what was struck), the event data recorder, 'black box' data, and the airbag system specifications. I have also been reviewing airbag failures as an expert witness for 4 years. I have seen several similar cases of airbag deployment and failure to deploy. As a common part of collision reconstruction, I have determined if airbag deployment was warranted.

About the expert

This expert has more than 20 years of experience in automotive safety, vehicle accident reconstruction, and component failure evaluation. His area of expertise is automotive safety restraints including seat belts and airbags. He received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and his MS degree in engineering management from the University of Detroit Mercy. He completed a training program in airbag sensor design at the Society of Automotive Engineers and was a featured speaker at several of their events. He is a former mechanical engineer at Engineering Experts, Inc., and the former principal product engineer at TRW Automotive. In addition, he is a former applications engineer at Borgwarner and a former project manager and product engineer at Morton International, where he was responsible for the management of current production airbag programs with major automotive OEMs. Currently, this expert serves as a senior consultant at a major mechanical system and product failure consulting firm.