A class action lawsuit claims that some Kia, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Ford Canada vehicles have defective airbag systems that fail to deploy during a crash.
The Kia, Toyota airbag problem class action lawsuit was filed by J. Jonassohn who says he purchased a new 2018 Kia Optima SXL Turbo 3 on March 30, 2018 for $35,510 plus taxes.
Allegedly, he purchased the vehicle believing it to be free of defects but discovered after his purchase that his vehicle possessed a defect in its ZF TRW airbags.
He says that the car manufacturer and airbag manufacturer knew that the airbag systems were defective, but sold the affected vehicles nonetheless and misrepresented them as safe and free of defects. Jonassohn claims that he would not have purchased the vehicle he had known that it was defective, or he would have paid much less for it.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that consumers have claimed that car companies were selling vehicles with defective airbags. A class action lawsuit settled this year made similar claims against Canada Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda.
Jonassohn points to this previous class action lawsuit in making his own claims, saying that his case “presents another example […] of an airbag manufacturer and automakers cutting profits ahead of safety and failing to disclose and properly address a dangerous and deadly airbag defect.”
The Kia airbag deployment problem class action lawsuit explains that the affected vehicles have an airbag control unit (ACU) that sense when a vehicle crashes. This system then determines whether or not an airbag should be deployed, based on the severity of the crash. The system also determines which airbags are appropriate to deploy, says the Kia airbag defect class action lawsuit,
The airbag defect class action lawsuit then goes on to state that the airbag control unit is located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and is connected to crash sensors located at the front of the vehicle.
However, in the case of the defective vehicles, says Jonassohn, the system’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which enables the system to detect the severity of a crash and deploy airbags appropriately, possess a defect.
Allegedly, the ASIC in the affected vehicles are susceptible to electrical over stress during a crash, which causes excess electrical signals produced during a crash to “overload the ASIC and prevent the deployment of the airbag and the seatbelt pretensions.” According to Jonassohn, this problem is caused because the vehicles do not contain enough circuit protection to prevent electrical over stress.
This problem is a dire one, says Jonassohn, because effective airbag deployment can often be the difference between life or death in a car crash. Allegedly, some drivers and passengers were physically injured by the defective airbags, while others suffered financial damages because their vehicles possess a defect that renders them less valuable.
Have you purchased a vehicle and then discovered that it had a defect? Share your experiences in the comment section below!
Jonassohn is represented by Andrea Grass of the Consumer Law Group.
The Kia, Toyota Airbag Defect Class Action Lawsuit is J. Jonassohn v. ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., et al., Case No. 500-06-000997-193, in the Canadian Superior Court of the Province of Quebec for the District of Montreal.
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8 thoughts onCanada Class Action Alleges Airbag Defect In Vehicles
I had an accident in 2015 in a brand new Ford F-150 and my airbags didn’t deploy correctly and I ended up in a coma and shattered my lower mandible (jaw. Bone) in 7 places I’m still trying to recover
Was in an accident in my 2019 Kia Soul and airbags did not deploy. I broke my finger and ended up with more injuries
I own a 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander
I think it was in 2005 or 2006. I was in the passenger seat and the airbag deployed improperly causing it to explode in my face. It caused facial burns and scaring. I had to heal from it, It was a Honda sports car
Hi I was stopped at a red traffic light in my 2015 Kia Rio, I got rear ended and pushed into the stopped vehicle in front of me. My car was totalled and my air bag did not deploy. I contacted kia to ask if my air bags could be checked for defects and they said they would but I really don’t believe that it ever happened. I was pretty much told that it depends on the accident how your hit and how hard. I wasn’t impressed with there answer as I was hit at around 50 km and I was at a standstill. I still believe that my airbag was faulty. This happened in 2017
Thats crazy i got tboned on driver side and my car had 15000 damage to left side and airbag didnt come out. She was going just fast enough to kink her doors on her suv and my car 2018 kia rio…write off. Im wondering if i should look into why side aurbags did nothing
Was in a car accident in my Kia Sorrento and no air bag came out.
I purchased a honda 2014 in the year 2018. june 30 2019 I was in a 3 car accident with my children and the air bags were defective they did not deploy