Seat Belt and Airbag Injuries in Car Accidents — Your Legal Guide in Las Vegas

Understanding Seat Belt and Airbag Injuries in Auto Accidents

Nevada seat belt laws require that all passengers wear seat belts. Seat belts and airbags can help prevent fatalities, but they may also cause serious injuries in high-impact crashes due to the amount of force they exert. 

Seat belts decelerate the person in the vehicle. When the car stops, your body continues moving forward, so the belt locks in place. The problem is that this energy is not spread out evenly when you wear a seat belt. Instead, it impacts your shoulders and lap. 

Airbags pose their own risks because of how forcefully and quickly they deploy. It’s easy to see why airbag deployment injuries are common when you realize they can activate with a speed of up to 200 mph. 

Airbag injuries can include broken bones, facial scarring, and even burns. Some injuries, like spinal cord or brain injuries, can be devastating.

Common Types of Seat Belt and Airbag Injuries 

There are numerous seat belt injury types, as well as wounds that lead to defective airbag lawsuits. 

The most common include:

• Bruising and abrasions: You can suffer bruises, abrasions, and friction burns anywhere the seat belt or airbag touches.
• Fractures: The force on impact can cause rib, clavicle, and sternum fractures, which are difficult to treat, or they may result in catastrophic injuries that impact the spinal cord.
• Internal injuries: You can sustain serious damage to organs like the spleen, liver, or lungs, which could result in internal bleeding and organ failure.
• Chest and shoulder injuries: You can suffer soft tissue injuries, like pulled muscles, or experience sternum breaks or rib fractures.
• Neck injuries: Whiplash is a common neck injury, but you can also suffer head trauma or even disc herniation if your spine twists.
• Facial injuries: Deployment of an airbag can cause broken facial bones and bruises.
• Burns and chemical injuries: Airbag burn injuries often affect the face, while friction burns from seat belts could impact your chest, neck, and lap.
• Blood clots and blood vessel damage: If there’s enough force to cause damage to blood vessels, clots can form.

Despite seat belt and airbag safety facts showing their overall benefits, it’s possible to sustain serious injuries if these features have any defects. 

Symptoms and Warning Signs of Seat Belt and Airbag Injuries 

There are numerous seat belt and airbag injury symptoms and signs to watch for. The following could warn you that it’s time to get medical assistance:

• Organ injuries: If you have trouble breathing and feel pain in your chest, you may have hurt a lung or even your heart.
• Neck and back injuries: The inability to turn your head, dizziness, numbness, or tingling can all point to neck or back injuries.
• Eye injuries: Any changes in vision, swollen eyelids, or pain require medical care.
• Bone fractures: Deformity, swelling, and sharp pain are all signs of breaks.
• Head injuries: Loss of consciousness, vision changes, and dizziness point to traumatic brain injuries.

You may also spot some external injuries, like bruises, cuts, and burns from where the seat belt or airbag touched your skin. Additionally, some symptoms could also be delayed. 

Why You Should Seek Medical Attention Immediately

One of the first things you need to do after an accident is get medical care. You may not realize you were hurt, or you may have sustained an injury that doesn’t immediately cause symptoms. If you don’t get care at once, you’re delaying treatment, which could impact your health significantly. In severe cases, delay can be fatal. Follow all of your doctor’s suggestions. If they recommend getting X-rays, MRIs, or other imaging studies done, get these tests. Not only will it help you understand what injuries you suffered, but all medical evidence can help support your car accident claim later on.

Legal Liability in Seat Belt and Airbag Injury Cases

Liability for these claims can be complex because there could be numerous parties involved. In the majority of cases involving product liability law (which follows strict liability), there will be a design, manufacturing, or failure-to-warn fault. 

The vehicle manufacturer is often liable if it sold a vehicle with defective safety features. If they developed metal-on-metal airbag components that caused the device to fail or resulted in metal poisoning, they are responsible for injuries. An example of this type of claim involves the Takata airbags.

Negligence can come into play if others were at fault, however. Vehicle owners and fleet operators can be responsible if they did not maintain the vehicle properly. If you took the vehicle to a mechanic for repairs and they didn’t spot any problems when another mechanic would have, they could be liable in a defective airbag lawsuit. 

During car shows or when car pools are involved, event hosts or the vehicle owners owe others a duty of care to ensure the vehicle is safe. If they were aware, for example, of the airbag injury risks for children of a particular type of airbag in the vehicle and did nothing about it, they are responsible. 

How To Prove Liability in Seat Belt and Airbag Injury Claims

To prove liability in seat belts and airbags causing injury lawsuits, you will need to:

• Collect medical evidence: Gather all of your medical records, including notes on how long the recovery process will take.
• Preserve accident site evidence: Collect photos, videos, debris from the airbags, and witness statements that demonstrate what happened.
• Get a police report: You’ll need the police report from the accident to file a claim.
• Obtain expert testimonies: To prove that the seat belt or airbag malfunctioned or that safety violations occurred, you need experts in mechanics and other fields to provide testimonies.
• Document injuries: Keep a record of how your injuries progress, how they impact your life, and all of the treatments you get.
• Prove negligence or product defect: In some cases, you’ll need to prove that negligence occurred, while in others, you’ll have to demonstrate that the product didn’t work as expected.
• Record all expenses: Keep track of all your expenses so that one of our Las Vegas airbag injury lawyers can accurately calculate your damages.
• Hire an experienced attorney: Consult with an attorney about your case to maximize your compensation.

With all of this information and help, you have a good chance of getting a seat belt or airbag injury settlement. 

Typical Compensation Available in Seat Belt and Airbag Injury Lawsuits

In these lawsuits, you can receive compensation for:

• Medical expenses: Hospital bills, rehabilitation costs, purchase of assistive devices, and all other treatments.
• Lost wages: Lost salaries, commissions, benefits, and earning capacity.
• Pain and suffering: Physical and emotional distress, disfigurement, and ongoing disability.
• Wrongful death benefits: Funerary costs, lost wages, and support.

To maximize your airbag or seat belt injury compensation, you need assistance from our lawyers. Product liability cases can be complex and involve many parties, so the potential for high settlement amounts is there. We can fight for it. 

How To Strengthen Your Case and Get Justice

To help your case, get immediate medical attention and start a detailed record of your injuries. Let your insurer know about your losses, but never admit fault to them or to other parties in the case. Make sure you do not accept any offers without consulting with an attorney. 

Gather all evidence, including witness statements, and consult with an attorney. They can help you decide whether a lawsuit is the right choice. 

Why Choose Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys, for Seat Belt and Airbag Injury Cases?

At Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys, we provide more than 34 years of experience and a compassionate, client-focused approach. Our seat belt injury lawyers understand Nevada laws and have obtained multi-million dollar settlements for previous clients. Additionally, we never charge upfront fees and offer free consultations.

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