Three companies implicated in the death of a young woman
It is truly a tragic event when the very devices designed to promote safety in the event of a car accident actually end up increasing the danger of a severe or even fatal injury.
Such was the case for 26-year-old Jewel Brangman. After renting a car from Sunset Car Rental LLC of San Diego, Brangman was involved in an accident. The airbag in her rented 2001 Honda Civic deployed with too much force, causing Brangman to suffer serious injury as metal fragments from the exploded airbag canister lacerated her neck. This injury ultimately led to her death.
Three Defendants Targeted in Wrongful Death Claim
Brangman’s family is now bringing a wrongful death suit against Honda, the airbag manufacturer, and the car rental company in order to hold them responsible for their negligent actions which caused Jewel’s death.
Takata Corp, the manufacturer of Honda’s airbags, is currently facing a class action suit based on the same airbag defects that caused Brangman’s death. In a normal airbag, a collision causes ammonium nitrate to ignite and burn at a fixed rate, inflating the air bag with a safe amount of force. But in Takata’s airbags, defects allowed moisture to penetrate and destabilize the ammonium nitrate. This caused the chemical to burn too fast, resulting in an explosion that destroys the mental canister holding the airbag and sends shrapnel flying out towards the vehicle occupants. Takata allegedly knew of this dangerous defect and yet deliberately concealed it for years.
Honda is also being targeted in the class action suit, as well as in the Brangmans’ wrongful death suit, because the car manufacturer also allegedly knew of the airbag defects starting in 2004, yet did not recall vehicles equipped with these airbags until years later.
The car rental company, Sunset Car Rental LLC of San Diego, also has a share of liability for Brangman’s death because they failed to have the car repaired despite receiving four recall notices on the vehicle.
With three corporate defendants in the case providing possible avenues of compensation, it seems likely that Brangman’s family will be actually able to recover any damages they may win, even if the award runs into millions of dollars.
If you have lost a loved one or suffered a severe injury in a car accident related to a defective airbag, you can and should explore your options for compensation with help from an experienced and caring attorney such as Fernando D. Vargas. We invite you to call 909-982-0707 now to request a free consultation.
