‘Counterfeit’ airbag goes off ‘like a grenade,’ kills woman in rental car, OK suit says

A 48-year-old woman was killed in what should have been a “survivable” car crash after her airbag went off “like a grenade,” shooting pieces of metal and plastic into her head, neck and face, according to a lawsuit filed in Oklahoma.

The lawsuit, brought by Oklahoma resident Shane Riggle, names six defendants in the death of his wife Patricia, including rental car company Hertz.

Also named is the Chinese manufacturer that made the airbag, which Riggle’s attorneys say was a dangerous “counterfeit” replacement for the vehicle’s original airbag system.

Two law firms are working together on the suit, Morgan & Morgan and the Oklahoma City-based Van Meter Law Firm, according to an Aug. 22 news release by Morgan & Morgan.

Riggle was “killed by an airbag that detonated in a frontal collision on March 1, 2024,” the firm said, adding that “the airbag contained counterfeit and non-compliant components and was improperly installed in the car.”

According to the lawsuit, Patricia Riggle rented a 2022 Chevrolet Malibu from Hertz. What she didn’t know, and wasn’t told, is that the car had first belonged to Avis, until it was involved in a crash that caused the original airbag system to deploy on the driver’s side.

After the crash, the car changed ownership before it ended up in Hertz’s rental fleet in seemingly good condition, but with a different airbag packed into the steering wheel, according to the suit.

“Mrs. Riggle had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly or illegally repaired or that the vehicle contained counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components,” the suit said.

The order of events started with Avis selling the wrecked car to Manheim Remarketing, the “world’s largest wholesale vehicle auction company,” the lawsuit said.

Another business, called Traum Auto Group, repaired it and installed a new airbag manufactured by China-based Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology Co., according to the suit.

Then, Hertz bought the Malibu, added it to the rental fleet, and Riggle was behind the wheel when it crashed, according to her family’s attorneys.

Therefore, “Manheim, Traum, and Hertz are responsible for this repair and for the installation of the counterfeit airbag,” the firm said in the release.

McClatchy News reached out to Hertz, Jilin and Manheim, but did not immediately receive any response. Contact information for the other defendants was not available.

While Traum did the installation, Manheim was responsible for overseeing repairs, and Hertz has a duty to ensure that any vehicles available to rent are safe and outfitted with components that meet federal and state safety standards, according to the suit.

Riggle was driving when another motorist stopped in the middle of the road, leaving her with too little time to fully brake, attorneys said. She slammed into the back of the other car and her airbag, instead of rapidly inflating to protect her, “detonated,” sending “metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”

“Fragments from the blast struck Mrs. Riggle in the face, head and neck, ultimately killing her,” the suit said.

This is the second case Morgan & Morgan is pursuing against Jilin, as another woman died in Florida in May due to the company’s airbags, the firm says. The victim, a young mother, was driving the same vehicle as Riggle, a Chevy Malibu, the firm said.

“This is now the second fatality that we’ve encountered due to the alleged negligence of multiple auto companies. What’s astounding is that these incidents occurred in two different states under almost identical circumstances,” attorneys John Morgan and Andrew Parker Felix said. “We feel that this is just the tip of the iceberg of a widespread issue, and we hope that this serves as a warning to any auto companies that attempt to skirt the system and buy cheap, counterfeit airbag replacements.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 5:34 PM with the headline "‘Counterfeit’ airbag goes off ‘like a grenade,’ kills woman in rental car, OK suit says."