If you’re like me, I’m sure you spend a lot of time in your car. Whether it is travelling to work, taking your kids to school or running errands around the city, the car is an important aspect of our life. We spend a significant amount of time in our cars and take for granted the safety features available during an accident. Airbags, one of the most important car safety mechanisms, are designed to minimize the harm done to a person during a collision.
Recently, car manufacturers around the world have recalled vehicles due to possible airbag defects produced by company Takata Corp. This has impacted Japanese companies Honda, Nissan and Mazda and has also impacted BMW, Chrysler Group and Ford. Honda recalled vehicles produced between 2000 to 2005, Nissan recalled vehicles produced between 2001 to 2003 and Mazda recalled vehicles produced between 2002 to 2004. Last month Ford said its recalling 850,000 vehicles for airbag problems and would cost the company $500 million. Chrysler Group recently announced that it’s recalling 184,000 SUVs.
While it’s fortunate that no accidents have occured, the recall of about three million airbags was taken as a precaution. If you are concerned about the safety of your vehicle, Transport Canada provides a ‘Road Safety Recalls Database’ where consumers can check the recall status (if any) on their vehicle, more information can be found here.
Airbags help cushion the impact by acting as a pillow for your head/body. All cars are required to have airbags in the driver and passenger sides of the vehicle to protect those in the front. Many manufacturers go a step further and provide side airbags and additional safety features to help reduce the impact of an injury when in an accident.
It’s important to note that airbags aren’t meant to deploy in all situations. If you hit a curb, for example, you wouldn’t want the airbag to deploy. Manufacturers set the sensitivity of an airbag and when it should include, this takes into account speed change of a vehicle, weight of an object and the overall impact.
When operating a vehicle, it’s important to always feel safe in a vehicle and confident that all safety features are fully functional to handle a car accident. Diamond and Diamond Personal Injury Lawyers have the experience in helping car accident victims and will get you the compensation that you deserve. If you’ve been injured, call us on our free injury hotline at 1-800-567-HURT (4878) or contact us here.
