Have you been in a car accident recently and wondering if you are entitled to collect damages in a personal injury case? If you’ve suffered financially burdensome injuries, you may be able to work with a car accident lawyer to collect damages for your medical bills, lost wages, and other factors.
Assessing the Facts
An auto accident attorney can evaluate the facts surrounding your accident to determine if your collision was due to carelessness or a violation of safety rules by another motorist. If so, you can claim compensation based on the following:
- Medical treatment costs
- Loss of income
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
Air Bag Injuries
Now, let us talk about one of the injuries that may not get enough focus, but happens quite a lot during an accident. There is no question that airbags save lives in car accidents. They are designed to deploy at lightning speed as soon as the vehicle’s sensor detects a frontal or other serious collision. Typically, the bag is ejected from the driver’s side steering wheel or passenger side dash and deflates as soon as the impact is stopped. But, despite being fast and efficient, it can cause injury to the passengers involved in the accident. And while it’s safe to say that most of the time they prevent much bigger injuries, it’s still a good idea to be aware of the power behind these devices.
Sensor Problems
A crash sensor malfunction can cause injury to the driver or passengers of a vehicle, to begin with. Common sensor-related injuries include:
- The airbag deploying at the wrong time (when there is no collision)
- Only one airbag deployed, instead of both
- The airbag is deploying too late to withstand the brunt of the collision
- Airbag problems
Deployed Air Bags
Because motor vehicle crashes happen at such violent force, deploying the airbag even a fraction of a second too early or too late can have fatal consequences. However, even if the sensor is working properly, airbags can cause injury. Airbags are designed to deploy at a speed of about 1/20 of a second, and that speed often causes injuries, including:
- Abrasions or burns from the impact of the high-speed bag with skin
- Irritation of the eyes, skin, or lungs from chemicals released when the airbag is deployed
- Serious eye injuries from the air pocket coming into contact with the face
- Bruising and pain from the impact of the airbag
Avoiding Air Bag Injuries
If you have been injured because your airbags are expelled with such force, sitting too close to the steering wheel or instrument panel can cause serious injury or even death when the airbag deploys. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you can avoid these injuries by making sure you are always at least ten inches from the steering wheel.
Your Rights
But even if you are doing everything correctly, you can still be injured from an airbag during a vehicle accident. If that happens to you, you may be entitled to a personal injury claim if you can prove that you were injured as a result of a faulty sensor or airbag. While it is true that sometimes an airbag injury saves you from a much greater injury than would otherwise have occurred, it is also true that there are rare times when an airbag can do more harm than good. But, the good news is that you still have the right to compensation.
Hire A Lawyer
You can obtain compensation out of court or by presenting your personal injury or wrongful death case in front of a jury. An auto accident attorney will help you decide how best to proceed so that you receive full and fair compensation. Contact a Denver car accident lawyer who has helped so many already and can assist you too.