The U.S. government has mandated airbags in all new vehicles since the 1999 model year. Over the following three decades, airbags saved over 50,000 lives while causing 290 fatalities. While every death is tragic, motorists involved in Oklahoma City, OK, car accidents have mostly benefited from them.
However, when your body hits an airbag, it pushes back. Airbag injuries could include facial fractures, concussions, and neck strain. An Oklahoma City airbag injuries lawyer from Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers can help you pursue compensation for these injuries.
Contact our law office at (405) 703-4567 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to schedule a free consultation with our Oklahoma City car crash attorneys.
How Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help With Airbag Injuries in Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma City personal injury attorneys at Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers have over 95 years of combined legal experience fighting for accident victims in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the firm’s founding, we have successfully recovered over $100 million in financial compensation from at-fault parties and their insurers.
Our Oklahoma City car accident lawyers provide the following legal services:
- Listening to your story and advising you of your legal options
- Assembling your insurance claim, including supporting evidence
- Negotiating to resolve your claim through a settlement
- Filing a lawsuit against the at-fault party if negotiations fail
Airbag injuries can cause permanent disabilities or even kill a motorist. Contact Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers to speak to an Oklahoma City airbag injuries attorney about compensation for the losses you or your loved one suffered.
What Compensation Can Airbag Injury Victims Include In a Claim?
Crash victims can seek compensation for economic and non-economic losses. Economic losses include things like healthcare costs, property damage, lost wages, and out-of-pocket expenses. Non-economic losses cover the intangible impact of your injuries on your life, such as the pain and anguish you endured, loss of consortium, reduced quality of life, and more.
How Much Will I Pay for a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Your personal injury attorney will likely charge a contingency fee at the end of your case. The fee is equal to a percentage of the compensation the lawyer recovers for you. If the lawyer recovers nothing, they will charge no legal fee.
Can I Recover Compensation In Oklahoma If I Was Partly To Blame For My Injuries?
Under Oklahoma’s modified comparative negligence rule, victims can recover compensation even if they were partially to blame for their injuries. However, their compensation will be reduced by their share of the blame if they are less than 51% to blame.
What Injuries Can Airbags Cause?
Airbags inflate in less than 1/20th of a second. The force required to deploy an airbag that quickly is so powerful that it can injure your hands as they grip the steering wheel.
An airbag is not meant to bounce your head away. Instead, it catches your head, preventing it from striking the steering wheel or dashboard. It should also prevent neck injuries by keeping your head from rebounding violently.
However, the force exerted as your head and the airbag collide can injure you. It can fracture the small bones in your face, strain your neck muscles, and jolt your brain, leading to a concussion.
In rare cases, airbag injuries are fatal. Those at greatest risk for fatal airbag collisions are children and short adults who sit very close to the steering wheel or dashboard. When the airbag deploys, it can cause a smaller person’s head to snap backward with lethal force.
What Types of Car Accidents In Oklahoma City, OK, Cause Airbag Deployment?
An airbag system includes a sensor, inflator, and bag. The sensor sits at the vehicle’s front. When it detects a frontal collision, it triggers a chemical reaction in an inflator to rapidly produce an enormous volume of gas to inflate the bag.
An impact to the side of the vehicle will not deploy the frontal airbags. Similarly, airbags usually deploy only in the rear vehicle of a rear-end collision.
Instead, frontal airbags deploy in head-on and angle collisions.
These are some common accidents in which frontal airbags deploy:
- Left-turn accidents
- Red light and stop sign accidents
- Wrong-way driving accidents
In a frontal collision, the airbag can reduce the severity of the occupant’s injuries, although it might not prevent them altogether.
What Is Oklahoma’s Deadline for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Airbag injury victims in Oklahoma have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. Starting promptly after an accident will give your attorney time to prepare your case and negotiate with the other party.
Contact Our Oklahoma City Airbag Injuries Lawyers for a Free Consultation
The at-fault driver is liable for injuries resulting from a crash, including those caused by a functioning airbag. However, if a defective airbag worsens your injuries, the manufacturer may be to blame. In that case, you can file a product liability claim against the manufacturer.
Contact Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation at Contact our law office at (405) 703-4567 with an Oklahoma City airbag injuries lawyer. We can discuss how to help you recover compensation for your airbag injuries in Oklahoma City, OK.
