A woman died in early June in a car accident in Los Angeles, which was the 8th person killed due to malfunctioning airbags made by Takata Corporation, according to US regulators and Honda Motor Company.
That woman died from serious head and neck injuries when the air bag in her Honda Civic inflated too quickly and spewed small pieces of metal.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Honda stated that both organizations had determined that the air bag led directly to her death. That government agency has reported that Takata air bags continue to kill and injure drivers and passengers across the US, including in Virginia.
The driver rented the Civic in southern California and was driving near LA when she was in the accident. Honda stated that the car was recalled six years ago but was never repaired. Four notices were sent to the owners of the vehicle.
Takata uses a form of ammonium nitrate to generate a small explosion that inflates the air bags. However, that chemical can become very unstable when exposed to moisture. That can cause it to burn too rapidly and blog up the metal can that is supposed to limit the explosion.
The father of the deceased filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Honda and Takata in April.
Product liability issues often arise due to any product that causes damage, death or injury. Our personal injury firm in Virginia has been involved with many product liability cases, some of which involve parts on vehicles.
To put it simply: You can file a personal injury claim against the manufacturer of a product if you were injured by such product. Or, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit as in the case above, if you are the family of the deceased.
One of the sticky parts of some product liability cases is which manufacturer to sue? The claim can be made against the firm that made the parts, or the company that produced the product in which the parts are operating. Our firm is very experienced in such cases, such as this $750,000 product liability settlement a few years ago.