You’ve had many close calls on your daily commute into DC: vehicles cutting you off, drivers slamming on their brakes in front of you, texters swerving into your lane. Fortunately, you’ve been good about avoiding crashes. Last week, however, that all changed.
When you left your home it was bright and sunny. An hour later as you merged onto the GW Parkway, the sky opened and buckets of rain poured on you and other motorists traveling on the road. The car next to you hydroplaned, lost control, and ended up crashing right into you.
Are Your Airbags as Safe as You Think They Are?
Fortunately, your airbags deployed at the moment of impact and prevented your head from hitting the steering wheel. However, they caused other injuries to you and your passenger. Airbags commonly leave traces of their presence in the form of potentially serious injuries, including:
- Bruises and lacerations. Airbags deploy at high speeds that can cause damage to the skin upon impact. Consequently, bruises and cuts on the face, neck, chest, and upper extremities are quite possible. Additionally, accident victims can also experience lacerations to veins, arteries, and lungs, as well as the heart, brain stem, spleen, and liver.
- Fractures. Because of the force of the airbags, bones are easily broken. Fractures in the face, upper extremities, wrists, and hands caused by airbags are quite common.
- Burns. Airbags can cause burns on any skin that is exposed, including the face, chest, neck, and arms. The burns are often caused by the chemicals in the airbags or the action of the airbag rubbing up against the body upon deployment.
- Other Injuries. Internal bleeding, hearing loss, blunt force trauma, eye injuries, or damage to a fetus are also known to occur as a result of airbags.
Accident Victims Have Rights
When airbag injuries cost you your quality of life, you can take action. The attorneys of Shelvin Smith have helped many accident victims receive the compensation they deserve to help pay for medical bills related to an accident, and may be able to do the same for you. Schedule a free consultation or call our Fairfax office at 703-634-7350