Airbags are credited with reducing numerous injuries and saving many lives during vehicle accidents. However, there have been incidents where they do not function as intended, and have even caused injuries such as explosive powder burns, detached eye retinas, child suffocation and impact deaths. In still other cases, airbags have not deployed when they should have, or even deployed unnecessarily, thus causing a car accident. In addition, many malfunctions do not occur in the airbag modules themselves, but rather in the electronic instruments and electromechanical devices that detect a collision and signal if, and when, an airbag should deploy.
Expertise
Questions Answered
We have experience in many aspects of airbag safety including:
The protection afforded by airbags
Whether or not an airbag should have deployed based on vehicle damage
Vehicle components associated with proper airbag operation
Occupant simulation for accidents, both with and without an airbag
Case Examples
Airbag did not deploy in a head on crash:
A car's driver was seriously injured when he struck another vehicle. The automobile manufacturer claimed that the vehicle's onboard computer indicated "no fault codes" associated with the airbag system and, therefore, the impact was not sufficient to require its deployment. However, the driver received a handsome settlement after we showed that, based on government airbag standards, the impact crush severity and direction were sufficient to expect airbag deployment.
Dr. Irving Ojalvo is Chairman of Technology Associates (www.technology-assoc.com), a forensic engineering firm with offices in New York City and Connecticut. The firm's technical personnel, all of whom have advanced degrees, perform accident reconstruction involving issues of biomechanics, mechanical, traffic, and human factors engineering.
