A car accident involving a defective airbag can give rise to two distinct legal claims at the same time. The first is a negligence claim against the driver who caused the collision. The second is a product liability claim against the manufacturer of the airbag system. These claims are not mutually exclusive, and in many cases, both are worth pursuing. However, they operate under different legal frameworks, target different defendants, and require different types of evidence.
Understanding the distinction matters because the weaker or missing link in one claim may not affect the other. An injured person who cannot prove the other driver was at fault may still have a strong product liability claim if the airbag itself was defective.
How a Standard Car Accident Claim Works
A car accident claim in Florida is a negligence claim. It requires showing that another driver owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused the plaintiff’s injuries as a result. Florida’s modified comparative fault law under Florida Statute § 768.81 bars recovery if the injured person is found more than 50 percent at fault for the accident. The claim is typically directed at the at-fault driver and resolved through their auto liability insurance.
How an Airbag Defect Claim Works
A product liability claim against an airbag manufacturer does not require proving that the accident was someone else’s fault. It requires proving that the airbag was defective, either in design, manufacturing, or in the warnings provided, and that the defect caused or worsened the plaintiff’s injuries.
Common airbag defects that form the basis of product liability claims include:
- Failure to deploy in a collision that should have triggered deployment
- Deployment with excessive force, causing injury rather than preventing it
- Deployment without a collision occurring
- Release of metal shrapnel or chemical irritants on deployment
Cases reviewed by a Miami air bag defects lawyer often involve recalled airbag components where the manufacturer had known about the defect for years before the plaintiff’s injury occurred.
Why Both Claims Should Be Investigated
Pursuing only the negligence claim and ignoring the product liability angle can significantly undervalue an airbag injury case. Conversely, pursuing only the product liability claim may leave compensation from the at-fault driver uncollected.
When both claims are viable, they can be filed simultaneously and resolved through either separate or coordinated proceedings. Each requires its own investigation, evidence gathering, and legal theory, but the practical effect is a more complete recovery for the injured person.
Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. represents airbag injury victims in Miami and across Florida, pursuing both negligence and product liability claims where the facts support them.
The Evidence Each Claim Requires
Negligence vs. Product Liability Evidence
A negligence claim relies on accident reconstruction, witness accounts, police reports, and traffic camera footage to establish how the crash occurred and who was at fault. A product liability claim requires the physical airbag module, deployment data, recall records, and often engineering testimony to establish that the component was defective.
Both types of evidence can be lost or degraded quickly after an accident. The vehicle must be preserved, the airbag module must not be replaced, and legal holds may need to be placed on the manufacturer’s records.
Taking Action After an Airbag Injury in Miami
The investigation needed to support a product liability claim is different from what a standard accident case requires. Speaking with a Miami air bag defects lawyer as early as possible after an airbag injury preserves your ability to pursue both claims and prevents the loss of evidence that cannot be recovered later. Our team is ready to assess the full scope of your claim and pursue every avenue of recovery available.