HYUNDAI KIA AIRBAG CLASS ACTIO DRIVERS

“These are very, very large multi-billion dollar companies that could issue this recall and fix this problem with the snap of the fingers. The Perry family is suing Kia for $2.5 million, arguing Kia never issued a recall for the 2015 Kia Forte before the crash that left Kamiya Perry with permanent brain damage. In these confirmed incidents, the EOS failure of the ASIC subsequently prevented deployment of one or more air bags and/or other restraint system components during the crash event,' according to NHTSA's letter. 'Assessment of these incidents found that at least five (5) of the vehicles experienced confirmed damage to the vehicle electrical system during the crash, which produced electrical over-stress (EOS) damage to an internal ACU component, specifically an application specific integrated unit circuit (ASIC).

In July, NHTSA reached out to seven major automakers: Kia, Honda, Acura, Toyota, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Chrysler/Fiat asking for more information on cars they've sold, or complaints they've received for vehicles equipped with an air bag control unit manufactured by ZF-TRW. 'These control units may suffer electrical over-stress due to harmful signals produced by the crash event, causing the unit to stop working during the crash,' outlined a 2019 NHTSA report. In total, the crashes resulted in four fatalities and six injuries. In 2018, NHTSA said it was aware of six crashes. Two crashes involved 20 model year Kia Fortes.

HYUNDAI KIA AIRBAG CLASS ACTIO DRIVERS

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation launched a probe into certain Kia models in 2018, after several reports of similar crashes where drivers said air bags failed to deploy. 'The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) senses a vehicle crash to determine whether air bag deployment is required,' according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). The issue stemming from the part tasked with controlling the safety restraint systems in a car: the air bag control unit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating at least 15 crashes where drivers reported air bags failed to deploy. “There was a fury that came in because perhaps this could’ve been prevented,' said Perry. The crash itself was damaging, but Kamiya's family didn't see any indication any of the air bags inside her 2015 Kia Forte went off, making her injuries even more severe. 'Now, she needs a lot of supervision and she’s more child-like.” “She is not as outgoing, before this, she was a go-getter,' Perry added. Her brother, according to the Perry family, was driving, and tried to make a U-turn, causing the crash. Kamiya, she says, suffered a traumatic brain injury in April after she and her brother crashed on their way to a family get-together in California. 'Her language was way different, she spoke different, she behaved drastically different.' “She didn’t know anything about the accident,' her mother, DeAna Perry said.

It's what the Perry family said they hoped would help 23-year-old Kamiya Perry, when her car flipped while on a road trip to California in April. Almost every car has built-in safety features, like seat belts and air bags some even have more technology aimed at giving drivers peace of mind when behind the wheel that they'll be protected in a crash.

Hyundai kia airbag class actio