Sometimes, airbags fail to deploy during accidents or they deploy unnecessarily when the driver is merely driving down the road. Either way, the results can be catastrophic. Many drivers and passengers have been injured when airbags fail to function properly. About five people die each hour as a result of car accidents, and making sure airbags are functioning properly is an important step in reducing those numbers. Properly functioning airbags save six people for every one person killed in a car crash.

Automobile manufacturer usually conduct extensive testing of airbags, but even then it is not enough. Not all airbag defects are caught. When an airbag is defective, it results in greater injury. For example, in 1995 a man was driving in New York when he hit a utility pole in his brand new Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The airbag failed to deploy, resulting in the man’s severe facial lacerations, bone fractures and disfigurement. According to the owner’s manual inside the car, the airbag was supposed to have deployed in severe frontal or near frontal crashes. If your car hits a stationary item, such as a wall or utility pole, it is supposed to deflate if you’re traveling faster than 9 to 15 m.p.h. The man was driving at 72 m.p.h. The court decided the man would not have suffered such injury had his airbag deployed.

There are a few different ways your airbag can malfunction. For example:

• An airbag can be over-inflated, which does not help reduce impact, but instead can cause greater injury.
• Airbag tethers, which are the straps that prevent the bag from extending all the way to the driver or passenger’s face, are sometimes missing.
•  Electronic sensors malfunction, which means the airbag is inaccurately deployed. Newer cars have these sensors.
• If the airbag isn’t folded correctly, or if too many or too little gas vents are installed, airbags will malfunction and hit the driver or passenger, which can lead to brain damage.
• Failure to warn of dangers: Manufacturers are supposed to inform drivers and passengers of airbag dangers, including telling them to not allow children under 12 or smaller teens in the front seat, and to not raise arms in front of body while involved in a crash. Many children have been injured, and many people have suffered broken arms because of inadequate warnings.
• Airbags deploying too late are also a cause of injury. Sometimes the airbags will go off minutes after a crash.
• Airbags deploying for no reason are also a source of injury.

Here are some safety precautions you can take:

• Ride in the back seat if you are a child or a small adult.
• Wear your seatbelt too; airbags were not meant to work without a seatbelt.
• If you must ride in front, move your seat as far back as possible.
• Place rear-facing infants (in a car seat) in the back seat, away from front, passenger and side airbags.
• If you are a woman, consider asking if your airbag can be “depowered” 25 to 30 percent. Airbags are designed for men, and often are too powerful for women and teens.

If you are injured by a malfunctioning airbag, contact a car accident lawyer as soon as possible. You may be compensated for all expenses you incurred.