Plaintiff hospitalised after her air vest failed to inflate, lawsuit claims

[Hot_Air]

A proposed legal action alleges the maker of an equestrian airbag vest failed to warn consumers that the “unreasonably dangerous” airbag will “frequently” fail to inflate. Are motorcycle airbag manufacturers protected from similar legal action by CE (or UKCA) certification?

a Virginia resident and experienced horse rider, purchased a Freejump Airbag in September 2020 because the product was advertised as a “safer and lightweight alternative” to a body protector.

During a show-jumping competition in May 2021, the woman, who was wearing the air vest for the first time, was thrown from her horse as she approached a jump, the case says. The Freejump Airbag failed to inflate, and the woman landed on her back on the ground “with significant force,” the complaint describes.

The plaintiff was hospitalized for four days and underwent two surgeries for multiple spinal fractures, which afterward required lengthy physical therapy, the filing reports.

According to the lawsuit, none of the advertising seen by the plaintiff disclosed that the Freejump Airbag would fail to inflate upon a fall

https://www.classaction.org/blog/freeju ... ion-claims

[JackyJoll]

That’s the trouble with horses- they crash too slowly.

[Horse]

Many, if not the majority, of spinal injuries are from:
- landing head first
- landing on the cocyx
- side impacts to the shoulder

Be interesting to see whether the case revolves around the bike not functioning, and whether injuries are irrelevant as an outcome.

Also whether something the plaintiff did might have compromised operation, eg:

We therefore guarantee the proper functioning of our airvests regardless of the compatible jacket used, as long as the cable exits from the underside of the jacket (and not through the jacket through any hole provided for this purpose).

https://www.freejumpsystem.com/en/produ ... se-riding/

[Hot_Air]

Many, if not the majority, of spinal injuries are from:
- landing head first
- landing on the cocyx
- side impacts to the shoulder

I guess there’s not much to be done about landing on your head; I've no clue how much difference airbag neck protection would make. A Leatt brace looks good but is unlikely to catch on for road riding.

However, I imagine the Alpinestars systems with shoulder airbags (Tec-Air Race, Street and 5) would help with shoulder impacts.

I don’t know how much difference coccyx armour makes, but I’ve retrofitted it to my various trousers. It might be a marginal gain, but every little helps.

[Mussels]

Interesting one, I guess it depends on claims the company made and if they suggested it should be worn instead of a body protector.

The McDonald's too hot coffee claim sounded daft until you read the details and then it made sense.

[Horse]

I went to look for more details on the Hit Air and Point 2 equestrian air jacket sites.

Got distracted by gratuitous white jodhpurs ...