Airbags are an extremely important, life-saving innovation that are now considered a universal safety measure in cars. However, in some cases, airbags can cause injuries to a driver or passenger when they deploy for protection. This can be because of defective products and designs, or sometimes just by chance like other car accident injuries. Anything deploying at almost 200 miles per hour can lead to injuries and potential damage. Luckily, there are ways to prevent this damage, and it’s usually less severe than the damage from no airbag at all. Keep reading to understand common injuries caused by airbags and how they may be avoided.
Understanding How Airbags Work
In order to understand how airbags can be potentially harmful, it helps to know how they are meant to work in an ideal scenario. Airbags are made of a light fabric and then placed in various locations throughout the vehicle, particularly the steering wheel and behind dashboard panels on the front passenger side. Some cars will include airbags in the car doors in case of a side collision.
Your vehicle contains crash sensors that know when a significant collision occurs and sends a signal to the airbags, instructing them to deploy. Any head-on crash or crash where you are going more than ten miles per hour is generally enough to trigger this process. Once activated, the sensors begin a release of gas, usually argon or nitrogen, into the airbags to fill them up. They are then forced to expand and deploy from their location in the vehicle. This entire process happens in about 1/20th of a second, and the bag begins to deflate shortly after. The process of deflation may release some gas into the air.
The most common cause of car accident injuries involving an airbag are a result of a defect in the product itself. This can include problems like:
- The sensor does not release the airbags when it should have
- Airbags are deployed when there is no collision
- Airbags deploy too late in a collision
- Only some airbags are deployed during a collision
Common Injuries Caused by Airbags
Even when airbags work perfectly as designed, they come with the risk of harm. While the below are the most common, a wide variety of injuries are possible and may range in severity.
Brain Injuries: Traumatic brain injury usually occurs in reaction to the head hitting a hard surface during an accident. A similar effect can occur when an airbag hits the head, leading to concussions or contusions on the brain. A common symptom is headaches after an accident.
Facial Fractures: Airbags often hit the face when they deploy, and due to the speed and force of this motion, it can cause broken bones in the face. These may be difficult to heal and painful, or in some cases cause disfigurement.
Fetal Trauma or Miscarriage: If a pregnant woman is involved in an accident where airbags deploy, the fetus is in additional danger. The force of an airbag hitting the abdomen can cause harm or even lead to pregnancy loss.
Fractured Ribs: If the chest area is hit by an airbag, the delicate ribs can fracture. This can take months to heal as the ribs cannot be casted like other bones and require extreme rest.
Other injuries may include:
- Abrasions in the upper body
- Contusions to the arms, knees, chest, face, or internal organs
- Burns to the arms, hands, or chest
- Sprained wrists or fingers
- Cervical spine injuries, including whiplash
- Lacerations to internal organs
- Heart muscle rupture
- Asthma attacks
- Chemical irritation of the skin
- Eye injuries
- Hearing loss or ear trauma
The majority of these injuries can be healed with proper treatment, but all car accident injuries should be evaluated by a professional as soon as possible.
Preventing Airbag Injuries
Like with any possible car accident injury, the best thing you can do to be safe is to wear a seatbelt properly at any time you are in a vehicle. A seatbelt is designed to be worn across the chest and the lap, not tucked under an arm or adjusted in any other way. The driver’s seat should also be positioned at least 10 inches away from the airbag deployment area, in order to leave the correct amount of space in the event of deployment.
Airbags prevent far more serious injuries than they cause. If one does happen to harm you during deployment, a car accident doctor will be able to treat your injuries.
