Lawsuit Filed Over Premature Airbag Deployment, ‘Preventable Death’

Our Atlanta office has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client who tragically died in a single-vehicle accident where the airbag deployed prematurely.

Our client was traveling in a Toyota Highlander when the airbag system deployed prematurely. Due to premature deployment, the airbag deflated upon the point of impact, failing to protect our client as it was designed to. We believe that our client’s death could have been prevented if the airbags had functioned correctly, not deployed prematurely, and provided protection upon impact.

The complaint, filed by managing attorney Chris Glover, alleges Toyota manufactured, distributed, or sold certain vehicles, including our client’s Toyota Highlander, containing defective airbag inflators, which caused complete failure or premature deployment. Moreover, Toyota defendants designed the passenger airbag system with such defect that it might prematurely deploy in a frontal collision and not perform safely.

Airbag systems are specifically designed to deploy during moderate to severe frontal collisions. As per the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), frontal airbags have saved more than 50,000 lives. However, defects in airbag systems can cause them to deploy with excessive force, not deploy at all, or deploy at inappropriate times, leading to serious injuries such as brain damage, blunt force trauma, and even death.

This case was filed in the Northern District Court of Georgia.