Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
Airbags are one of the most important safety features in your vehicle as the airbag can cushion the blow and reduce the force of impact you feel in an auto accident. When airbags don’t work, the risk of serious injury significantly increases. A failure to deploy isn’t even the biggest risk, as an airbag that deploys suddenly when it isn’t supposed to could actually cause an accident that leads to serious injury or death. 
Our Boston defective products lawyers know that auto manufacturers are responsible for ensuring the safety of all vehicles, including safety features like the airbag. Unfortunately, things can still go wrong. It is important for every driver to keep up-to-date on news of car recalls and to respond promptly if they learn that their car is being recalled because of an airbag problem or other defect. Recently, for example, as many as 803,000 owners of Toyota crossover vehicles and sedans got news that their vehicle is now being subject to a recall.
Toyota Vehicles Recalled Due to Airbag Problems
Toyota’s recent recall included the 2012 and 2013 Toyota Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid and Venza vehicles. The recall was prompted by problems with airbags, with the company indicating it had received at least 35 reports of airbag warning lights coming on in cars that it had sold.
The specific issue with the Toyota airbags is that spiders can build webs inside of the vehicles and block a critically important drainage tube in the air conditioning unit. The tube is designed to direct water from the air conditioner away from the control unit of the air bags.
Unfortunately, when spiderwebs block the tube, the water from the air conditioner can get the airbag control module wet and can cause a short circuit. Depending upon exactly what the water does to the circuit and when, the result can be that an airbag will simply fail to deploy when it is needed or that the airbag will deploy at a time when it is not required. A driver faced with this situation would almost surely become involved in an accident as he would be driving when an airbag would forcefully expand at fast speeds, blocking his vision and likely hitting him in the face.
The danger is serious, and Toyota has alerted all affected drivers, asking them to bring their vehicles to a Toyota dealership for repair. Toyota will resolve the problem by applying a sealant to prevent the leaks into the air conditioning control unit, and by adding a new port to cover the air conditioner’s condenser unit. The repairs necessary to make the vehicles safe will be performed free of charge for drivers.
Motorists with an affected Toyota should get their vehicle to a dealership as soon as possible. All drivers should regularly check for alerts of recalls for the vehicles they are driving to ensure that they aren’t put at risk by problems like this one with airbags or by problems with any other vehicle parts that fail to function as they should.
If you lost a loved one in an accident, contact Jeffrey S. Glassman for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call 888-367-2900.
More Blog Entries:
Massachusetts Traffic Safety Watch: Autumn Risks Behind the Wheel, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, August 16, 2013