Airbags are a vital safety feature in cars and have saved many lives during car accidents. However, some may wonder if airbag deployment can cause or worsen injuries in car accidents or whether or not their airbags deployed impacts their personal injury case.

While airbags can help save lives, there are cases in which they may cause injuries. If you ever have questions about specifics of your car accident case, it’s best to consult with a personal injury attorney. They will be able to provide you with the expert legal advice you need, rather than the generalized information from a blog post that should not be taken as legal advice.

How Do Airbags Work?

Airbags are meant to cushion occupants of a vehicle during sudden impacts. They’re designed to inflate very quickly, within milliseconds. 

When a vehicle is traveling above a certain speed, typically 16-18mph, and has a sudden impact, the crash sensors send a signal to the ignitor in the airbag inflator. Then, gas rapidly fills the airbag, deploying it so that it is fully expanded when it makes contact with the occupant’s body. Almost immediately after the airbag inflates, it deflates, to absorb the energy and cushion the occupant.

Cars are required to have both driver and front passenger airbags. Many automakers these days now include side airbags, rear passenger airbags, and other such airbag systems in order to provide as much protection as possible.

Injuries Associated With Airbag Deployment

While the purpose of airbag deployment is to protect against serious injuries, it is possible to be injured through airbag deployment, for a variety of reasons from sitting too close to the steering wheel to manufacturer defects and beyond.

Some injuries one may suffer from airbag deployment include:

• Burns and abrasions
• Soft tissue injuries
• Hearing damage
• Face and eye trauma
• Lung injuries
• Lacerations
• Contusions
• Neck injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Damage to internal organs
• And more

If you are in an accident, it’s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Symptoms may not appear right away. It’s important for the medical professionals to know if the airbags deployed in your accident, as this can affect your care and necessitate further tests.

What Can Go Wrong When Airbags Deploy?

While they are life-saving devices, nothing is perfect, and things can indeed go wrong when airbags deploy. 

• Malfunctioning sensors
• Faulty airbag system
• Airbags deploy too rapidly or too slowly
• Occupants sitting too close to the airbags
• And more

If you were injured because the airbag system malfunctioned, you may be able to obtain compensation. Potential liable parties include: the airbag manufacturer, the auto maker, and anyone who inspected or worked on the airbag system. 

What If There Is No Airbag Deployment In Your Car Accident?

Airbags are not meant to deploy in any and every auto accident. The crash sensor gauges the severity of impact to determine if airbag deployment should occur. As such, minor collisions, particularly under a certain mileage per hour, may not include airbag deployment. 

However, if the airbag system is faulty or malfunctioning, the airbags may not deploy when they are supposed to. This leaves occupants without the expected protection, which can worsen injuries in car accidents. You may be eligible for compensation if your airbags did not deploy when they were supposed to and you were injured as a result.

It is important to pay attention to any recalls and to have your airbags inspected regularly in order to keep your vehicle as safe as possible. 

Can Airbag Deployment Damage Your Car?

You may wonder if airbag deployment means that your car is totaled. While airbag deployment can damage your vehicle, it does not always mean your car is totaled. If the airbags have deployed, they will need to be replaced, as they are no longer safe to use. 

Airbag deployment can cause damage to the vehicle. In some cases, the damage from the deployment and the impact may result in a total loss, where the cost to repair the vehicle is more than what the vehicle is worth.

Always have your airbags and vehicle checked by professional mechanics as needed to ensure that your vehicle receives the care it needs to stay safe. 

As such, airbag deployment can increase costs of repairs and/or replacements, which can factor into your car accident claim. 

Car Accident Personal Injury Attorneys In Northern Utah

LeBaron & Jensen is here to provide you with the help you need. If you have been victim to a car accident, contact us to schedule a case consultation. We don’t ask for any fees until we win your case for you.

Many people think nothing of eating while driving, but the truth of the matter is that doing so increases your risk of being in a car accident. Here is what you need to know about why you should avoid eating while driving, the frequency of car accidents resulting from such distracted driving, and tips to avoid doing this.

Eating While Driving Is Distracted Driving

Anything that takes your attention off the road is a distraction that increases your risk of being in a car accident. The road needs your complete and full attention in order for you to drive safely. This means that answering texts, skipping songs, or paying more attention to your conversation than the road all put your safety at risk – as does eating while driving.

Since it’s so common for people to grab a meal and go, you may not think anything of it. After all, it’s not like it’s illegal to eat or drink while you’re driving. It’s so common that a Stanford study showed that about 20% of Americans’ meals are eaten in the car. 

But just because something is commonplace doesn’t mean it’s good. Even the slightest distraction while driving can have catastrophic consequences. When you’re going 55 mph, this means that you can travel the length of an entire football field in 5 mere seconds. That’s a lot of distance for something to abruptly change in the road or driving conditions in a very short time – time that could be taken up by something as simple as dipping your fries in sauce.

Ways Eating While Driving Contributes To Car Accidents

There are three main types of distractions while driving: visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual distractions are when you take your eyes off of the road. Manual distractions are when you take your hands off of the wheel. Cognitive distractions are when you take your mind off of driving. Eating while driving causes all three of these types of distractions. 

This is because when you eat while you drive, you’re multitasking. This means that your attention is only partially on the road. You’re not just thinking about the road, you’re thinking about not making a mess, not spilling, opening your food, reaching for a drink, and more. It only takes a split second for an accident to occur, necessitating 100% of your focus on the road at all times when you’re driving.

Plus, eating is something that typically requires both of your hands. While sure, you can grab fries with one hand or tell yourself you only need one hand to hold your sandwich, this involves taking at least one hand off of the wheel. And should something happen, like a pedestrian coming out of nowhere, you need both hands on the wheel to react fast enough.

The Frequency Of Accidents Caused By Distracted Driving

A lot of things that contribute to distracted driving aren’t illegal, eating and drinking included. But that doesn’t mean they don’t create distractions that jeopardize everyone’s safety on the road. Approximately 9 people are killed in the United States every day due to accidents that involve a distracted driver. 

According to the NHTSA, drivers are 8x more likely to be involved in an accident when reaching for an object. They’re 3x more likely to be in an accident while eating or drinking. Motorists who eat and drive increase their chances of being in an accident by about 80%, while distracted drivers who were eating or drinking caused about 65% of near-miss accidents.

Don’t Eat A Crash Diet: How To Avoid Eating While Driving

Eating while driving is bad for multiple reasons. Not only does it increase your chances of being in a car accident, it’s also not good for you. Most foods that are convenient to eat in the car aren’t healthy. As such, doing your utmost to avoid eating while driving isn’t just safer, it’s also healthier for your body.

Some ways you can do this include:

• Eat before you leave. This does mean you have to wake up earlier, but better an earlier alarm than landing in the hospital.
• Keeping food out of the car. Some people keep snacks in their car. While this can be smart in the event that you get stranded somewhere, keep them out of reach of the driver’s seat. Plus, this helps you keep your car cleaner.
• Opt for slimmer, easier to pick up drinks. That way, you don’t have to fumble to pick them up or worry so much about spilling them all over the place. 

Have You Been Victim To A Car Accident?

LeBaron & Jensen provides personal injury representation to those who have been victim to accidents, such as those caused by distracted drivers who were eating while driving. Contact us today to schedule a case consultation.

With Halloween and the holidays right around the corner, people are using rideshare apps more than usual, as they go bar-hopping, try to figure out how to get everyone from one place to the next, or simply don’t want to deal with trying to find a parking spot during some of the busiest times of year. Convenient as rideshare apps may be, staying safe and knowing who is liable in the event of an accident can be challenging.

Here is what you need to know about what to do if you get into an auto accident while using a rideshare app, such as safety concerns involving these apps, who can be held liable in an accident, and more.

Factors Affecting The Safety Of Using Rideshare Apps

It used to be that we were cautioned against getting into strangers’ cars, but now, we pay strangers to take us places. As nice as it would be to trust that rideshare apps are safe, there are still hazards involved with using them. 

• Distracted driving. Rideshare drivers need to monitor their mobile devices to see where they are taking you and what to do. This can distract them from the road. Other distractions can include conversing with passengers, drinking and/or eating while driving, changing the music to passenger preference, and more.
• Impaired or reckless driving. Drivers may operate their vehicles under the influence or without a care for traffic laws, putting everyone’s safety at risk.
• Driver fatigue. Drivers may work long hours in order to make more money. This can lead to fatigue, which can negatively affect their driving.
• Driving in unfamiliar locations. Rideshare app drivers often go where they’ve never been before. This can cause them to be more easily distracted and more prone to errors, which can lead to accidents.
• Looking for passengers. Rideshare app drivers need to try to find their passengers, which can be challenging, especially in busy areas. This looking around can lead to accidents.
• Poor vehicle maintenance. Since their job involves their car, rideshare app drivers must ensure that their vehicle is safe to drive. Failure to do so increases the risk of malfunctions and accidents.
• Poor road conditions. If the roads the rideshare app driver is driving on are not maintained, this can impact the safety of all in the vehicle, such as if there are deep potholes or major cracks in the road.
• Violence. Rideshare app drivers may be violent to passengers. While background checks should prevent this, sometimes rideshare apps do not do their due diligence before hiring new drivers. 

Who Is Liable In These Auto Accidents?

Liability with auto accidents depends on a wide array of factors. Seeking the representation of a personal injury attorney will make navigating the complexities of liability and your options much easier. 

Multiple parties may be found liable for an auto accident. In certain cases, you may be able to file a suit against the rideshare app itself. Rideshare drivers and the companies themselves are required to carry auto liability insurance in order to provide coverage for those injured in auto accidents.

You may file a lawsuit against the rideshare app itself if the company acted negligently and said negligence contributed to your injuries. Such examples of negligence include: not conducting a thorough background check on the driver, not conducting assessments of the driver’s safety behind the wheel, and more. If the rideshare company knew or failed to check if a driver had a history of reckless driving or serious traffic violations and hired them anyway, you may be able to hold them liable for the accident. 

Liability can also be complicated by whether the driver was in the app or not, whether they’re on route to pick up a passenger or transporting a passenger, and more.

Other potentially liable parties include:

• Another driver who caused the accident, rather than your rideshare app driver
• Manufacturers of defective vehicle parts
• Those who failed to maintain roads.
• And more.

It’s important to work with a personal injury attorney in order to determine liability in an auto accident so that you can achieve the compensation and justice you deserve. 

What Should You Do If You’re In An Auto Accident?

Whenever you’re in an auto accident, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Even if you feel fine, that could just be because of the adrenaline pumping through your veins. It can take weeks or even months to notice symptoms from injuries resulting from an accident, such as with brain injuries. 

If you don’t seek medical attention, you may not receive the treatment you need in order to prevent complications. If you wish to pursue legal action, having medical records that prove that your injury resulted from the accident makes the process much smoother.

You will also want to contact the police, gather the information of those involved in the accident as well as that of any witnesses, and take pictures and videos of the accident, if possible. From there, you’ll want to call a personal injury attorney. 

In our previous blog, Your Insurance Adjuster Is Not On Your Side: Why You Need To Be Wary, we covered why you should consult with a personal injury attorney prior to working with your insurance. 

Do You Need A Personal Injury Attorney?

Whether you’ve been injured in an auto accident while using a rideshare app or have otherwise sustained injury at the fault of someone else, the personal injury attorneys here at LeBaron & Jensen are here for you. We provide free case consultations and do not charge a fee until we win your case. There’s no need to worry about navigating your case on your own with our dedicated lawyers on your team. We do everything in our power to ensure that you receive the justice and compensation you deserve.

Contact us today to learn more about our personal injury services and how we can help you achieve fair compensation.