Should I sue Toyota?

Question

I was in an accident last October. The other driver hit my car on the left front, the front and also with the impact the car spinned and somehow the right front was hit as well. The car was declared a total lost. My first reaction was to hold on to the steering wheel very hard so I wouldn't go through the windshield. The airbags didnt deploy. The ambulance took me to the emergency room because I was under a lot of pain, specially my neck (whiplash) and my right shoulder. A few days later my back started hurting me and to this day, I still have to go to physical therapy and take pain medication because the pain on my back wont go away. Someone suggested that I should sue Toyota since the airbags didnt deploy.

Answer 1

From your description of the crash, there were several hits to the front of the car, with at least some time between the hits, and then the car was still moving and in a spin by the sounds of it.

For the airbag to deploy, there has to be a hit hard enough to set the front sensor within a certain number of degrees off the full front, followed by declaration.  Although you  may have been hit hard enough, it didn't immediately stop the car like hitting a wall, and the airbags are designed not to deploy in a situation like you have described.

There are two types after a crash, those like you who want to sue because the airbag didn't go off, and those who want to sue because it did and increased the costs of fixing the car.

I'm sorry you are still hurting, but it's unlikely that Toyota will do anything for you since it appears the airbag did what it was supposed to do.

Work with your insurance about getting your medical payments covered.

Answer 2

Airbags deploy based on different variables.  How fast was the car traveling that hit you, how fast were you traveling, and what was the actual pressure of the impact.  Airbags are generally made to go off at 25-30 miles an hour, but it doesn't always guarantee it will go off.  If it was a new car, you probably could sue Toyota if the impact was over the standard rate to cause a deployment, but if it was used, this could have been the previous owner's tampering that caused it.

Answer 3

The impact probably didn't hit the sensors to cause the airbags to deploy.  Why were you trying to prevent yourself from going through the windshield?  Didn't you have your seatbelt on as that is what seatbelts are supposed to prevent.  Unless you can prove that the sensors are defective, you will only be wasting your time and money trying to sue them and there's no such thing as a "safe" car unless it's parked in your garage with the ignition off.

Answer 4

maybe you diddnt hit the right spot for the airbags to deploy.

but im sure you couldnt get any money out of toyota because they will get a better lawyer than you and they will eat you alive.

Answer 5

Call a lawyer and pursue your options.

Answer 6

Questions like this are asked and answered all the time here.  There are specific criteria that need to be met to activate a deployment.  Check out this website for the EXACT answers to your questions including the blog specific to your concern. This site tells you exactly what needs to happen for the airbags to deploy and what needs to be replaced (seat belts & all) on over 3500 cars after they do.  

http://www.airbagsolutions.com

http://blog.airbagsolutions.com

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/resources...

http://blog.airbagsolutions.com/archive/...

Answer 7

sue Toyota and buy a Honda

Answer 8

I agree with you! Toyota was built to crush the Chinese during WWII! Let's sue Toyota and crush those idiotic imperialists!!!

Answer 9

sue the other driver ,was your car used ?carfax report ? wrecked? were the senors activated ? can you retrieve the ecm?

the pain you are in now WILL haunt you forever!!!!

Answer 10

No. When you drive, you take a chance. Airbags are a relatively very new invention. They do a good job of helping to limit injuries overall. They're not 100% affective and neither is anything else. You really have no right to expect that some new additional safety feature will save you from any conceivable injury. Sorry, but I'm tired of this lawsuit mentality of this day and age which always seeks to make someone else responsible for an individual's misfortune. Life means taking chances.

*****EDIT*********

Indeed-- if the other driver was negligent-- HE should be held accountable for what he did.

Answer 11

As stated above maybe your accident did not trigger the sensors and yes I would have the Toyota area zone rep look at this for your piece of mind.

Airbags deploy only when they might be needed to prevent serious injury.

Frontal driver and passenger airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal crashes equivalent to hitting a solid barrier at 10-12 mph.

Some manufacturers use different inflation thresholds depending on whether people are using their safety belts.

Thresholds of 10-12 mph typically are used for unbelted occupants, but thresholds are higher — about 16 mph — for belted occupants because the belts alone are likely to provide adequate protection up to these moderate speeds.