When you get into your car every morning, you probably don’t think about the airbags. You assume they will work if you ever need them. But over the past two decades, one of the most dangerous manufacturing mistakes in automotive history has involved airbag inflators that can explode instead of inflate. This is not a design issue or a problem with how the airbag was supposed to work. It is a manufacturing flaw—a mistake that happened on the assembly line, in the materials, or in the quality control process. And when that flaw causes injury or death, the law steps in to assign liability.

Manufacturing flaws are different from design defects. A design defect means the product was planned badly from the start. Every unit that comes off the line has the same problem. With a manufacturing flaw, the product was designed well, but something went wrong during production. Maybe a weld was weak, a chemical mixture was off, or a part was assembled upside down. In the case of airbag inflators, the flaw typically involves a propellant that degrades over time, especially in hot and humid conditions. When the propellant burns too fast, it ruptures the metal canister, sending shrapnel into the passenger cabin. The airbag that was supposed to save your life becomes a bomb.

The legal theory that applies to these cases is called strict liability. Strict liability means you do not have to prove that the manufacturer was careless or knew about the problem. You only have to show that the product had a manufacturing defect, that the defect made it unreasonably dangerous, and that the defect caused your injury. This is a big deal for ordinary people. It takes away the burden of proving negligence, which can be expensive and difficult. All you need is evidence that the product was different from how it was supposed to be when it left the factory.

Take the example of a recalled airbag inflator. The manufacturer, say a supplier named Takata, made millions of inflators. The design was approved. But some batches of the inflators used a propellant that absorbed moisture and became unstable. That is a manufacturing flaw—it did not happen in every inflator, only in units that were made with a specific batch of chemicals or under certain factory conditions. When those inflators ruptured, people were cut by metal fragments. Some died. The lawsuits that followed did not require the victims to show that Takata intended to harm anyone or that they deliberately skipped safety checks. The victims only needed to prove that the inflator in their car was not the same as a properly made inflator. That is strict liability in action.

But strict liability is not the only way to win a product liability case involving a manufacturing mistake. You can also sue for negligence. Negligence means the manufacturer failed to use reasonable care in making the product. Maybe they hired unqualified workers, skipped testing, or used cheap materials. In the inflator cases, evidence showed that Takata knew about the rupture problem for years and did not recall the products fast enough. That is a separate negligence claim. However, negligence is harder to prove because you need to show the company did something wrong, not just that the product failed. For most people, strict liability is the simpler and more reliable route.

There is also a third legal theory: breach of warranty. Every product comes with an implied warranty that it is fit for its ordinary purpose. A car’s airbag is meant to inflate safely and protect you. When it explodes, it breaches that warranty. You can sue for the cost of repairs, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. In some states, you can also get punitive damages if the manufacturer acted with reckless disregard for safety. Punitive damages are meant to punish the company and send a message. In the Takata cases, the company paid billions in settlements and faced criminal charges. The punitive damages were part of that.

If you are injured by a manufacturing flaw, the first thing you need to do is keep the product. Do not let anyone fix or discard it. The product itself is the best evidence. You also need to gather records: purchase receipts, repair invoices, medical reports, and any recall notices. Then you need to prove that the flaw existed when the product left the factory. This can be tricky because the product may have been used or modified after you bought it. But if the flaw is obvious, like a cracked part or a chemical smell, it is easier. For hidden flaws, like unstable propellant inside a sealed inflator, you will need an expert witness who can explain the chemistry and show that the defect was present from the start.

The bottom line is simple: when a manufacturing mistake turns a product into a weapon, the law does not require you to be a lawyer to get justice. You just need to show that the product was not what it was supposed to be, and that it hurt you because of that mistake. The manufacturer is responsible, period.