Experienced Buffalo personal injury attorneys are familiar with the defense questioning whether airbags deployed during a motor vehicle accident. While defense attorneys may insinuate that the failure of airbags to go off confirms that the speed of the vehicle at impact was not that high, this is not always the case.
First of all, front and side airbags simply do not deploy when a vehicle is struck from behind. Nonetheless, defense attorneys routinely ask if the airbags deployed in rear end collisions because they are aware that not all jurors know this fact, and it gives the impression that the impact was not that severe.
Even in cases involving collisions at an angle where the airbag would deploy, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, front airbags are usually designed to go off in accidents where the force is the equivalent to hitting a solid barrier at 8 to 14 mph. Hitting another motor vehicle, however, is not the same as hitting a solid barrier – the motor vehicle absorbs some of the energy when it crumples and also can be pushed, which absorbs more energy. As a result, a 14 mph collision with solid barrier is roughly the equivalent of striking a parked car at 28 mph.
If you have suffered a personal injury in a motor vehicle collision, we would be happy to help you. Please call us at 716-542-5444.
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