GM Airbag Lawsuit

People who were injured in car accidents when the airbags on a General Motors (GM) vehicle failed to deploy may be eligible to file a lawsuit and seek compensation.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting GM airbag induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or a loved one were injured or killed in an auto accident where the airbags failed to deploy, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Airbag Failure Lawsuits

A growing number of lawsuits have been filed by people who were injured when the airbags failed to deploy in a car accident. These lawsuits accuse car-makers of selling vehicles with a deadly defect — specifically, the airbags do not work in an emergency.

What Happens When Airbags Fail to Deploy?

Airbags are essential safety features on a vehicle, and when they fail, passengers who were supposed to be protected can die or suffer devastating injuries.

Drivers can hit the steering wheel, dashboard and windshield. Passengers can slam into the interior of the vehicle. The victims may suffer facial injuries, broken bones, organ damage, internal bleeding, permanent scarring from lacerations, or death.

Why Do Airbags Fail?

1. The type of collision: Airbags are not supposed to deploy after minor collisions, fender-benders, and most rear-end collisions. However, some serious accidents might fail to trigger the airbags, including certain rollovers and side-impact collisions.
2. Defective airbag sensors: The airbags will only deploy if the sensors correctly detect that the vehicle has hit a solid object. Furthermore, the software must be calibrated to correctly determine that the impact was severe enough to meet the firing threshold. The airbags will not deploy if the sensors do not work.
3. Electrical malfunction: Airbags can fail when there is a problem with the electrical system that transmits the signal from the sensors to the airbag system. This problem sometimes occurs due to faulty clock springs in the steering column.
4. Poorly designed vehicles: Airbags can fail when car-manufacturers make bad design choices, routing wires through areas that are vulnerable to being severed in a car accident.
5. Defective airbags: The airbag’s manufacturer might be responsible when the vehicle correctly senses the impact and transmits a signal to the airbag, but the airbag module simply failed to respond. This may be due to poor quality control, design flaws, and manufacturing defects.

Safety Officials Investigating GM Airbag Failures on 750,000 Vehicles

In April 2021, federal safety officials opened an investigation into complaints of airbag failures on thousands of GM vehicles, according to the Associated Press.

The investigation covers about 750,000 Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC vehicles from the 2020 and 2021 model-years.

Back in March 2021, GM issued a service bulletin to dealers, warning that rust particles can accumulate on the driver’s airbag connection terminal. This could cause the airbag malfunction light to turn on. It could also stop the airbags from inflating. No recalls were announced.

The investigation was opened after 15 complaints of air bag malfunctions, including 6 crashes with 8 injuries. “Six crash incidents have significant frontal collision damage where driver frontal air bags failed to deploy,” according to agency documents.

The affected vehicles are Chevrolet Silverado pickups, GMC Sierra pickups, Chevy Tahoe and Suburban SUVs, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade SUVs, Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans, and XT4 SUVs.

List of GM Vehicles

Cadillac

• • Escalade (1998-2000, 2002-2006, 2007-2014)
  • Escalade ESV (2007-2014)
  • Escalade Hybrid (2009-2013)
  • SRX (2004-2009, 2010-2014)

GMC

• • Yukon (1999-2014)
  • Yukon XL (2000-2014)
  • Envoy (1998-2000, 2002-2009)
  • Acadia (2007-2014)
  • Terrain (2010-2014)

Chevrolet

• • Tracker (1999-2004)
  • Suburban (1999, 2000-2006, 2007-2014)
  • Blazer (1999-2005)
  • TrailBlazer (2001-2009)
  • Traverse (2008-2014)
  • Silverado (1998-2014)
  • Tahoe (1994-2014)
  • Equinox (2004-2014)
  • Trax (2015-2014)
  • GMT800 Heavy Duty Truck (2000-2007)
  • C1500 and K1500 (1999-2000)
  • Sierra (1999-2000)
  • Astro (1999-2005)

Buick

• • Encore (2012-2014)
  • Enclave (2008-2014)
  • Rainier (2004-2014)

Isuzu

• • Trooper (1999-2002)
  • Amigo and Rodeo (1998-2004)
  • VehiCROSS (1999-2001)
  • Axiom (2001-2004)
  • Ascender (2002-2008)
  • H-Series (2003-2014)

Do I have a GM Airbag Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting GM airbag induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or a loved one were injured or killed in an auto accident where the airbags failed to deploy, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

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