When I saw the following video showing the advances in car design and auto safety, I had to share it. In the following Daily Mail video, two family cars are put through identical head-on collision tests at 40mph [1]. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, there is a reportable car wreck every 61 seconds in Texas. So how has technology changed driver and passenger safety since 1997?
The results are stunning.
The Rover has an airbag for the driver, but no airbags to protect the passenger seats during the test. The impact destroyed the front of the vehicle. In the real world, the driver and passengers would not have survived.
By comparison, the modern Honda, under identical conditions, received much less damage. Notice the windshield didn’t even break! More importantly, airbags deployed throughout the interior of the car. When operating properly, the airbags created a bubble around the passengers. The Honda received a five-star safety rating.
Manufacturers initially opposed the safety features highlighted in the video. They claimed the car wreck technology would be too expensive.
When Car Wreck Technology Fails
In recent years, massive airbag recalls have been announced to address issues involving defective airbags. These recalls affect vehicles equipped with Takata airbags, which have reportedly been linked to 13 deaths and many injuries worldwide.
Airbag failures in car wrecks have allegedly caused situations in which passenger vehicle occupants have either not survived relatively minor driving incidents or have suffered serious, permanent injuries.
Lawsuits have been filed against the makers of certain automobiles and airbags, alleging the safety devices failed to work as promised.
Automotive recalls are intended to fix known problems with car wreck technology to keep drivers and passengers safe. Traffic crashes are the number-one killer of Americans under the age of 34 [2]. Over 40,000 vehicular deaths per the National Highway Transportation & Safety Administration.
Evaluate Your Case
At Shamieh Law, we hope you never need our services. However, our attorneys are well versed in cases where car wreck technology fails.
Whether a single, multi-car wreck, 18-wheeler accident, passenger injury or a collision with an uninsured driver, contact Shamieh Law.
Shamieh Law offers a free case evaluation to anyone involved in an automobile accident in Texas or Louisiana, regardless of their ability to pay. On top of that, we only get paid a percentage of your case if (and only if) we win.
Speak with a specialist today.
