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Why Your Car’s Safety Cage Might Not Offer the Protection You Need

Your car’s passenger compartment should form a “safety cage” to protect you in the event of a front, rear, side or roof impact. As such, it should be constructed using design and manufacturing methods that resist intrusion.

When a safety cage is defectively designed or manufactured, frontal impacts can result in excessive damage to the dash, toe board or even the steering column. Rearward motion or rotation of the steering column can be particularly significant in vehicles equipped with air bags, because this movement can prevent the air bag from being properly positioned to effectively restrain you or your occupants.

Similarly, when the safety cage is defective, a rear impact can cause excessive intrusion, leaving rear seat occupants vulnerable to impact from the other vehicle. The risk of injury increases if the seat back collapses during the impact.

Issues have been reported in all types of vehicles, including Acura, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, General Motors (GM), GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Saturn, Toyota, and Volkswagen (VW).

Defects Resulting in Inadequate Protection

Poor protection in side impacts can result from one or more defects. For example, inadequate door beams or inappropriate vehicle structure can increase the risk of injury in a side impact. Other vehicles use door locks and door latches that fail to keep the door closed during impact, which greatly increases the risk of ejection and serious injury, even if you're wearing your seat belt.

Furthermore, injury risks in side impacts can also increase if a manufacturer fails to install an appropriate side air bag system. For example, some early side air bag systems failed to adequately protect a person’s head and neck, instead protecting only the chest. This, of course, leaves you unnecessarily vulnerable to head and neck injuries.

A poor roof structure can also lead to tragic consequences not only in rollover collisions, but also in impacts where one vehicle overrides another one due to differences in their relative sizes. The use of high-strength reinforced steel pillars and roof bows can reduce the risk of roof crush.

Conversion vans often have significantly weakened roof structure, as some converters cut out the steel roof and roof bows and replace them with flimsier materials.

If you are concerned that the integrity of your vehicle’s safety cage has been compromised, and that it may have caused serious injuries to you or to a loved one, please contact us today at (407) 804-1300 or (888) 834-5297.