Our client was a properly seat-belted passenger in a 1997 Toyota Camry that was struck by another car that turned into her path. Despite the modest crash speed, the air bags deployed. The deploying passenger air bag slammed into the passenger’s face, causing significant facial injuries and permanently blinding her.
I used independent experts to test the Camry passenger air bag. That testing documented that the air bag generally deployed at speeds approaching 250 mph. However, quality control issues could raise the deployment speed to over 400 mph! These speeds are well over the industry standard for limiting the risk of eye injuries from deploying air bags.
Toyota Camry Airbag Hitting Passenger Face
In fact, the evidence demonstrated that the danger zone for this air bag extended over two-and-a-half feet from the dash. Thus, even normally seated and properly seat belted passengers were at risk of being blinded by the Camry air bag. Our analysis of the crash test data also revealed that the air bag sensors could cause a late deployment, which could worsen injuries to the driver or passenger.
