Sometimes during crashes, the airbag fails to deploy. In these instances, the victim often sustains facial, head and torso injuries, including lacerations, broken bones and cognitive deficits.
In one case, ARCCA was asked to look at a vehicle involved in a crash where the airbag did not deploy and the victim suffered severe head injuries. The accident reconstruction expert performed a site and vehicle inspection to gather appropriate data and also reviewed available black box data, such as pulse and driver belt use. Additionally, the reconstructionist used EDSMAC to validate the direction of force and delta-V. He also inspected the airbag circuitry and diagnostic codes and checked to see if the electrical system was valid. The biomechanical expert inspected the forensic marks in the vehicle to evaluate the mechanism of the head injuries. Our seat belt expert evaluated belt performance to determine if it was in use and whether it in any way contributed to the injuries.