Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fatal automobile accident due to airbag misdeployment

  • Case Report
  • Published:
International Journal of Legal Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this case report was to demonstrate a fatal motor vehicle accident in which a 33-year-old man died at the scene immediately after his car collided with the roadside curbstone at a normal speed. The autopsy of the deceased body revealed a penetrating injury on the neck as he was struck by the deployed airbag. Pathological examination showed the offending material to be a fractured cylinder-shaped metal piece, which had settled within the fourth cervical vertebral body. Further forensic engineering investigation of the airbag unit found that the metal fragment originated from a defective airbag gas generator, which had exploded upon deployment. These findings reflect on the increasing popularity of airbag-associated trauma across the globe in recent years. We suggest an effective management plan for the evaluation and mitigation of the complications associated with airbag-related incidents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Segui-Gomez M (2000) Driver air bag effectiveness by severity of the crash. Am J Public Health 90(10):1575

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Cummins JS, Koval KJ, Cantu RV, Spratt KF (2011) Do seat belts and air bags reduce mortality and injury severity after car accidents. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ) 40(3):E26–E29

    Google Scholar 

  3. Jothee S, Shafie MS, Nor FM (2018) Fatal penetrating neck injury due to defective airbag inflator. Forensic Sci Int 291:e4–e7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Viano DC, Parenteau CS (2018) Belted driver fatalities: time of death and risk by injury severity. Traffic Inj Prev 19(2):153–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Nayak R, Padhye R, Sinnappoo K, Arnold L, Behera BK (2013) Airbags. Text Prog 45(4):209–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Plekhov OA, Saintier N, Palin-Luc T, Uvarov SV, Naimark OB (2007) Theoretical analysis, infrared and structural investigations of energy dissipation in metals under cyclic loading. Mater Sci Eng A 462(1–2):367–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lee HY, Youk H, Kim OH, Kong JS, Kang CY, Sung S et al (2018) A predictive model to analyze factors affecting the presence of mild whiplash-associated disorders in minor motor vehicle crashes based on the Korean In-Depth Accidents Study (KIDAS) Database. Traffic Inj Prev 19(sup2):S48–S54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Venkatachalapath TS (2013) An interesting case of penetrating injury neck and face. Acta Med Iran 51(3):199–200

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fracasso T, Karger B (2006) Two unusual stab injuries to the neck: homicide or self-infliction? Int J Legal Med 120(6):369–371

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Shiroff AM, Gale SC, Martin ND, Marchalik D, Petrov D, Ahmed HM, Rotondo MF, Gracias VH (2013) Penetrating neck trauma: a review of management strategies and discussion of the ‘no zone’approach. Am Surg 79(1):23–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Baars P (2018) Verletzungen des cranio-thorakalen Überganges in tödlichen Unfällen mit motorisierten Zweirädern: Ursachen, Relevanz und Vermeidbarkeit durch moderne Schutzsysteme (doctoral dissertation, Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität)

  12. Muthusubramanian V, Pande A, Vasudevan MC, Ravi R (2007) An unusual stab wound of the cervical spine caused by a casuarina stick. Br J Neurosurg 21(1):43–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Batra S, Kumar S (2008) Airbag-induced fatal subaxial cervical spinal cord injury in a low-velocity collision. Eur J Emerg Med 15(1):52–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Soden RJ, Walsh J, Middleton JW, Craven ML, Rutkowski SB, Yeo JD (2000) Causes of death after spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 38(10):604–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Effros RM (2006) Anatomy, development, and physiology of the lungs. GI Motility online. https://doi.org/10.1038/gimo73

  16. Beachey W (2017) Respiratory care anatomy and physiology-E-book: foundations for clinical practice. Elsevier Health Sciences, 4th edn. Elsevier, St Louis, Missouri

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vinit S, Gauthier P, Stamegna JC, Kastner A (2006) High cervical lateral spinal cord injury results in long-term ipsilateral hemidiaphragm paralysis. J Neurotrauma 23(7):1137–1146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hussain A, Hannan MA, Mohamed A, Sanusi H, Ariffin AK (2006) Vehicle crash analysis for airbag deployment decision. Int J Automot Technol 7(2):179–185

    Google Scholar 

  19. Wallis LA, Greaves I (2002) Injuries associated with airbag deployment. Emerg Med J 19(6):490–493

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Mikáczó V, Siménfalvi Z, Szepesi GL (2018, May) Investigation of pressure rise in automotive airbags. In: Vehicle and automotive engineering. Springer, Cham, pp 466–475

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. Obeng K (2008) Injury severity, vehicle safety features, and intersection crashes. Traffic Inj Prev 9(3):268–276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Sgarlato A, DeRoux SJ (2010) Motor vehicle occupants, neck injuries, and seat belt utilization: a 5-year study of fatalities in New York City. J Forensic Sci 55(2):527–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. MacLennan PA, Ashwander WS, Griffin R, McGwin G Jr, Rue LW III (2008) Injury risks between first-and second-generation airbags in frontal motor vehicle collisions. Accid Anal Prev 40(4):1371–1374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kuk M, Shkrum MJ (2018) Injury patterns sustained in fatal motor vehicle collisions with Driver's third-generation airbag deployment. J Forensic Sci 63(3):728–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bahety S, Moffitt B, Pruchnik W, O’Rourke JS (2018) Honda motor company: communication and the takata airbag crisis. In SAGE Business Cases,2020. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526488749

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Medicine Department, General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police GHQ, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Younis M. Albalooshi & Hazem M. Sherif

  2. Specialty Forensic Evidence Department, General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police GHQ, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Sulaiman M. Alzarooni & Mohammad A. Alqassim

Authors
  1. Younis M. Albalooshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hazem M. Sherif
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sulaiman M. Alzarooni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mohammad A. Alqassim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Younis M. Albalooshi: investigation and writing and preparation of the original draft. Hazem M. Sherif: conceptualization and validation. Sulaiman M. Alzarooni: investigation and writing and preparation of the original draft. Mohammad A. Alqassim: supervision, writing, review, and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad A. Alqassim.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Dubai Police Forensic Laboratory research committee (No. 12/2019).

Consent to publish

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Albalooshi, Y.M., Sherif, H.M., Alzarooni, S.M. et al. Fatal automobile accident due to airbag misdeployment. Int J Legal Med 135, 565–572 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02457-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02457-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation