My Wife Was In A Bad Car Accident... Side Air Bag Did Not Deploy When She Was T- Boned. She Suffered Multiple Fractures To The Pelvis And Hip. I Am Not The Lawsuit Type, But She Is Going To Laid Up For At Least Six Weeks. Should I Call A Lawyer? Or Am I Wasting My Time And Money? The Vehicle Was A 2006 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Addition. Dont Know Weather To Just Let The Insurance Take Care Of It Or Do It Myself. My Opinion Is I Bought A Vehicle With Side Air Bags.. They Should Have Deployed...what Do You Think???

did you purchase this vehicle new?

With an injury like that you need an attorney. Don't go to a one-man show or some small firm, nor to the guy with the largest yellow pages ad. Find out who some of the larger firms are in your area and contact them. If you're in a small town, find one in the closest city. She could have issues for years and a semi-competent attorney is going to be looking for a quick payday for himself. Small players don't have the resources to take on long-haul cases like this.

Was it her fault?

No, I Did Not. But I Do Have The Reainder Of The Factory Warranty

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...used_cars.html


some issues with used or "certified used" vehicles.


I am not a lawyer but i would get a hold of one.

Yes, It Was Her Fault

It sounds like something was defective, I'm not the suing type, but with her major injuries if something would have lessened them and didn't because of a factory defect it should be rectified.

I'd look for a competent Attorney who is familiar with manufactures liability laws and not just the first one the contacts you. Usually some of the ambulance chasers come out ot the woodwork and contact you right after the accident.

The main problem with Air Bags is there is no way to test them, kind of like firing a bullet to see if it's good or not. Once it's deployed it's no good and has to be replaced. I would think the firing circuit is monitored for shorts or opens which may cause it to malfunction.

Good Luck and hope for a complete recovery for your wife.

Don't let them (Ford, or Insurance co.) BS you. My wife just had a front end collision in her CTS, air bag did not deploy. They said it was due to the speed not being high enough. I asked WTF are they there for? The "estimated" speed was under 40...helloooo...that's a pretty dam good lick for it NOT to deploy. Insurance accepted GM's explantion, & now the "Service Air Bag" light comes on & off. Of course GM says....there are no codes, so there isn't anything wrong with it......I call Bullchit!!!
Anyway....don't let them BS you....get yourself a good lawyer & DEMAND answers!!!!
Good Luck, & I hope you wife gets better soon....

Been in the collision repair biz for awhile, by far not an expert.

In most front end collision that deploy an airbag, its not how fast the car is going, it is how fast the car stops that triggers the deployment. Lets say the car hits somthing that moves easy like another car chances are it not going to deaccellerate fast enough like if it hits an inmovable object such as a large boulder or building that stops the car very quickly, usually measured in milliseconds.

Not sure about side impact, but usually there are also seat belt tensioners that also deploy and numerous other sensors that measure impacts.

You also may want to see if the car was ever repaired before.
Carfax

Hope everything works out for a great and speedy recovery.

been in collision business most of my life and with a automotive network with 13 different car lines and about 19 different location with 8 different collision centers, and have a little experience in what i say, i am asked often why didnt my air bags go off, usaully its a frontal impact, air bags are designed to deploy in a worst case senerio what is worst case? your going through the windshield seat belt or not, thats not to say air bags dont deploy at a lot less impact but usually because a sensor was damaged by the collision and not the impact, but sensor also measure deaccelleration and some times coming to a momentary stop in inertia of the vehicle will set them off while not having much damage, i have seen many a person go after the car manufactures on faulty airbags with no luck, every accident has its own set of circumstances, but it will be tough proving a faulty airbag system.