Accidental deployment of air bag?

Has an airbag ever accidently gone off? Is it possible, no matter how
remotely? If it goes off, can it cause an accident and if it does, who's
responsible? In my state, there is no such thing as a fatal "accident."

Every "accident" is vigorously examined for criminal content. IOW, if you
kill somebody with a car, you are going to have to hire an expensive lawyer
and even so, there's a 50-50 chance you'll get saddled with a felony
conviction even if you don't go to jail.

Just to prove this assertion, I personally know an old lady whose van's
power steering belt broke in two on a sharp, slow turn and she didn't have
the strength to straighten out and drove into a ditch. Nobody was hurt but
she got a ticket for "careless driving". That was totally unfair because
it was the vehicle's fault, not the drivers; it was unforseen and
unintentional, therefore no criminal element. But a ticket for careless
driving is an infraction, which is a minor criminal offense.

 

It is usually the drivers Responsibility to control there vehicle.
I know things can happen that can cause them to lose control but it is
still there responsibility when they get behind the wheel.
I agree the ticket for careless driving is a little unfair.
Tickets are issued by the decision of investigating police officer.
And when there is a accident someone usually gets a ticket.:grinyes:
:grinno:
But if it goes before a judge and sometimes he can change things to
better fit the situation.
Or like they say everybody can have there day in court.
And I hope the lady had heres.

And Air bags can go off. Not very often.
Tires can blow out and tie rods ends can fall off or you can hit a
slick spot in the road.
But the driver is still liable for what the vehicle does.
MT

 

Maybe the theory was that she should have been driving in a lighter vehicle
she could have kept under control. Or kept her vehicle in better condition.
I know here in Ontario icy roads are not an excuse for accidents, because
you're supposed to drive according to road conditions.

But to your original question, airbags seldom if ever simply "go off" with
no reason as far as I've heard, but I do know of one case where a guy hit a
large dog and the airbag went off and very nearly caused a serious accident.

 

There has been a few posts on this NG about airbags going off on their
own.

I don't recall any of the specific details.

Another one that troubles me is anti-lock brakes preventing a stop,
causing an accident.

Hopefully, these problems have been worked out since ABS was introduced
in the late 1980's.

-KM

 

What extreme right wing state are you in?
Many things can go wrong with your car and cause an unfortunate fatal
accident.
If this fact keeps you awake at night I suggest stop driving until you
can move to another more realistic state.

 

Let me guess, Massachussetts, or some other east-coast liberal bastion?

 

your should be writing your states lawmakers to make the law more fair to
reality
i write my at least 2 a month

 

It depends on the accident, what the witnesses say, what the drivers
say, and what the cop thinks.

Any lawyer will tell you that if your in an accident and a cop shows up
to shut your trap. Absolutely nothing that you say at an accident scene
will do anything to help you once you provide the information of
who you are, what your drivers license number is, etc. And there is
a huge amount that you can say that will just get you into worse hot
water.

A fairly nice cop explained all of this to me when I was a kid once,
and I pulled out of a parking lot and chirped the tires. He pulled me
over and said "listen, I know you probably are proud of your car and
all but I could write you a ticket for reckless driving for that"
I responded with the typical kid excuse of my gas pedal was kind
of sticky and he started laughing and said "well, I guess if you want
along with that reckless driving ticket I could also write you a
second ticket for knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle" In other words,
no matter what excuse you come up with, there's probably a law
that will **** you over worse if you try to use it.

I have learned with minor fender benders to never argue with the other
driver but instead, immediately pull out multiple copies of accident
report forms (which I always carry in my glove box) and start
snapping questions to the other driver of what his name is, etc.
while at the same time, furiously filling out my copy as fast as possible.
The second it's done I hold it against my vehicle VIN, make the other
driver look at the VIN on the paperwork, and the VIN on my
vehicle to see that they match, show him my driver licence and proof
of insurance to prove they match, throw him his paperwork, verify
his VIN and drivers license number and then drive off as immediately
as possible.

Several times a mile or so down the road I've passed a cop who
was breaking all speed records going the other direction to get to
my accident scene, because of some damn busybody that called
it in on a cell phone. Of course by the time he gets there the other
driver has left too, and the cop has nothing to write tickets about.

I've never been in an acident, no matter how minor, where the
cops didn't wirte a ticket to somebody.

If you are even in an accident where you don't hit another car, but
instead hit some object, even if afterwards your vehicle front is caved
in, if it's still driveable, jump out, leave a note with your phone
number, then get the hell away from there immediately even
if your dragging pieces of the fender and throwing off sparks. Or
at least, get about a mile or so away before you park the car. Then,
walk as fast as possible away from the vehicle, and call a cab and
get yourself home. Call a tow vehicle a couple hours later and
fetch your car. Don't ever linger at an accident scene. The law
requires you to make a reasonable effort to notify the property
owner if you damage property and leaving your phone number on
a note definitely satisfies the legal requirements. If a cop shows up
he's going to write you a ticket. If you vanish and there's no
vehicle the cop certainly can always write you a ticket later on, but
it's going to be almost impossible for the cop to defend in a court
since the cop cannot claim that due to the vehicle postioning it
was carelessly driven, yadda yadda yadda not to mention the
cop cannot even prove you were the driver, nor can you legally be
compelled to supply the name of the "actual" driver. So they
usually won't do it.

Iv'e seen people in accidents, who had full insurance coverage, get
written tickets for failing to have vehicle insurance, because the
cop decided that the piece of paper the driver had from the
insurance company that was their proof of insurance, didn't look
legit. The cops response was "if he's covered he can just get a
statement from his insurance company and the judge will dismiss it"
Yeah, think of all the time that is going to take to get all that bullcrap
done.

Ted

 

Meanwhile the cop gets paid overtime because he set the court date on his
day off.

 

Won't they (shouldn't they) later charge you with leaving the scene of
an accident?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

The law requires you to inform the injured party, that is all. Here is
the section out of State of New Jersey, a typical example:

"...The driver of any vehicle knowingly involved in an accident resulting in
injury or death to any person or damage to any vehicle or property shall
give his name and address and exhibit his operator's license and
registration certificate of his vehicle to the person injured or whose
vehicle or property was damaged and to any police officer or witness of the
accident, and to the driver or occupants of the vehicle collided with and
render to a person injured in the accident reasonable assistance, including
the carrying of that person to a hospital or a physician for medical or
surgical treatment, if it is apparent that the treatment is necessary or is
requested by the injured person.
In the event that none of the persons specified are in condition to receive
the information to which they otherwise would be entitled under this
subsection, and no police officer is present, the driver of any vehicle
involved in such accident after fulfilling all other requirements of
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, insofar as possible on his part to
be performed, shall forthwith report such accident to the nearest office of
the local police department or of the county police of the county or of the
State Police and submit thereto the information specified in this
subsection...."

Note the operative section:

"...to the person injured or whose vehicle or property was damaged AND to
any police officer or witness of the accident..."

In other words, if you are in an accident, give your info to the other
driver and

witnesses, and you then try to give your info to a cop - if the cop isn't
there, then what?

The law does not say you have to wait for the cop. It doesen't give you
permission to

leave, either. It is actually absolutely mum on the issue and it's easy to
see why.



The law does not require you to wait for a cop to show because if it did,
then every minor

fender bender that happened, the parties could not leave unless a cop
showed. Thus

the cops would be required to show to -every-last-little-accident- no matter
how minor,

no matter how much other stuff they had going on.



If a cop were to argue in a court that the reading of the law means you HAD
to inform

a cop, then you would argue that this reading requires that at any accident
a cop will

be present at the time of accident - a completely rediculous propostion. It
also requires

that at any accident there will be witnesses - another rediculous
proposition. Further there

is a section later that talks about reporting to the nearest office of the
local police dept. -

a section that would be unnecessary if a cop would be present to receive
information

at every accident.

 

Hopefully you get a logical judge (i.e., one that is sane enough not to
do things like sympathize with repeat child molestors, etc.) - not
always guaranteed, but then, nothing is.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')