A defective airbag can cause, or fail to prevent, serious or even deadly injuries. Defective air bag cases generally fall into one of three categories: (1) non-deployment cases (where the airbag fails to deploy); (2) late deployment cases (where the airbag deploys, but not in time to prevent injury); and (3) overpowered deployment cases (where the airbag deploys with excessive force). Proving that an airbag was defective often involves extracting data from a vehicle's "black box," or "event data recorder." The EDR is a small, square, virtually indestructible container similar to those found in commercial airplanes. It is found within the air bag control module that controls air bag deployment. The EDR records data surrounding a "deployment event" (i.e., a crash of sufficient severity to trigger an airbag deployment) such as vehicle and engine speeds, as well as brake, accelerator and throttle positions. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration has enacted a rule requiring car manufacturers to make available to car owners the tools to download EDR data by September 1, 2012. Already, American car makers Chrysler, Ford and GM have made their EDR data commercially available by providing their data formats to Botsch Diagnostics.
While EDR data is vital to determining the cause of an air bag non-deployment, air bag control modules could themselves be the cause of non-deployment under certain circumstances. Air bag control modules set a hard or locked code which causes the airbag dashboard light to remain on, signifying that the module should be replaced. In recent years, a new industry has arisen offering "reprogramming services" for less than the cost of a new replacement air bag control module. Reprogrammers claim in their advertisements that the reprogrammed modules will be "factory fresh" and "better than new." While a successfully reprogrammed air bag control module will cause the airbag dashboard light to go off, it is uncertain whether it will successfully deploy the airbag in a future crash. Thus, GM and other automakers have warned owners against the use of used, salvaged or imitation airbag systems.
Proving the cause of an air bag deployment failure can be a highly technical undertaking. If you or a loved one has been injured due to an air bag non-deployment, a late deployment, an overpowered deployment or the failure of a defectively reprogrammed air bag control module, contact the attorneys of Fried & Bonder, LLC.
