In June, Chrysler will start fixing more than 355,000 minivans with flawed airbag sensors. Chrysler maintains that this is a “safety improvement campaign” and not a full-scale auto defect recall. The Associated Press reports however, that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is closely monitoring the repairs and that they consider this to be a vehicle defect recall.
Chrysler claims that even with these defective airbags, their vehicles still meet the federal standard for safety. In addition, no personal injuries due to defective airbags have been reported at this time. According to Chrysler officials, the airbags in certain Chrysler minivans can fail to deploy if the sensor becomes cracked and subsequently wet.
A properly working airbag can greatly increase your chances of surviving a serious collision. Since airbags became mandatory in the mid 1990s, and as of 2006, approximately 18,000 lives were saved by use of an airbag. A faulty airbag, however, can be extremely dangerous. For instance, between 1990 and 2006, there were estimated to be 262 deaths due to malfunctioning or defective airbags.
If you were injured because of a defective airbag, or, as a result of another manufacturing or design defect in your vehicle, contact our New Jersey auto product defect lawyers at Blume Forte at 973-845-4421. We will evaluate whether there was any negligence, or product defects, that resulted in your auto accident injury, at absolutely no cost to you.