Federal investigators are looking into reports of front passenger seat airbag failures in about 330,000 BMW cars and SUV’s, the consumer watchdog Web site, Consumeraffairs.com reports. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/nhtsa_bmw_airbags.html In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Defect Investigation is reporting that the BMW vehicles’ front airbags may be defective rendering them ineffective during a crash.
The models that are part of this investigation include 2004 to 2006 BMW 5 and 7 series sedans, Z4 convertibles and X3 SUVs, as well as 2006 BMW 3 and 6 series cars and X5 SUVs. So far, federal safety regulators have received 729 reports about this malfunction from owner and 23,739 warranty claims for the faulty airbags in these vehicles, the Web site reports.
Readers from all over the country have reported to Consumeraffairs.com about the problem. One person reported that his 2003 BMW 352i got broadsided by a red light runner at 45 mph and the air bags still did not deploy. Another reader says that the air bags didn’t even work in a frontal collision which occurred at a speed of 30 mph. Yet another man reported that his BMW hit a concrete light pole and caused $10,000 in damages to his car and the airbags did not deploy. That reader also complained that BMW is not taking responsibility for the vehicle defects.
Where is BMW with all of this? The process that actually leads to a recall is long and right now the auto maker is carrying out an engineering analysis, which is part of NHTSA’s safety review process. Whether these steps would result in a safety recall still remains to be seen.
Although an investigation is ongoing, it’s hard not to take these consumer complaints seriously. BMW should opt for a voluntary recall before more damage is done and worse, lives are lost. When an airbag does not deploy in a 30 mph frontal crash, there is something wrong. Auto makers have had a long history of denying product defects in their vehicles. This is nothing new. Ford, General Motors, Nissan – the list is endless.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an auto accident caused by an auto product defect, you need to get in touch with a reputed personal injury law firm, which is experienced with these types of cases. You should do so whether the product in question has been recalled or not. The truth is most defective products – auto products or otherwise – are not recalled.
At Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys we’ve had to represent numerous clients in these product defect cases because manufacturers will not take the responsibility or step up to the plate when it comes to damages caused by defective products. So it becomes our job to fight for your rights and against injustice. And as our clients know by now – we’re ever ready to do that.