– Exploding airbags manufactured by China’s Detiannuo Automobile Safety System of Jilin province recently led U.S. safety regulators to open a federal investigation following six fatalities.
One of those deaths involved 22-year-old Destiny Marie Byassee, who was driving a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu when the front airbag exploded, killing her.
According to a lawsuit filed by her family, it was a counterfeit airbag, supplied by Detiannuo, that killed Ms. Byassee by sending shards of metal into her neck, face and head.
Ms Byassee was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash in June 2023, but photos from the scene show a front airbag torn apart by metal and plastic from the airbag inflator that exploded.
Her family complains that the Chevy Malibu’s head-on collision should never have killed her, but they claim that several companies besides Detiannuo caused her death.
The lawsuit includes Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Jilin Province Detiannuo, Manheim Auctions, DriveTime Automotive Group and Jumbo Automotive Inc.
In response to the federal airbag investigation, Detiannuo released a statement saying:
“We do not do business with the United States and are prohibited from selling any of our products to the United States. Gas generators are dangerous. You must undergo rigorous experimentation and testing before you can use and install them.”
But according to the lawsuit, Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System operates, conducts, conducts, conducts or conducts a business or business enterprise in Florida, or has an office or agency in Florida.
In addition, Detiannuo is said to “regularly conduct business in Florida by marketing, advertising and selling motor vehicle parts and air bag system components to Florida residents and consumers.”
Destiny Byassee Death – The 2020 Chevy Malibu
According to the lawsuit, the Malibu was involved in a previous collision in September 2022, which deployed the driver’s side airbag and seat belt pretensioner. The lawsuit claims the Malibu was so damaged that it “should have been classified as a total loss, given a salvage title and removed from service.”
According to the lawsuit, Enterprise Rent-A-Car contracted with Manheim Auctions to auction and sell the wrecked Chevy Malibu, after which Manheim auctioned and sold the Chevy Malibu to DriveTime. Jumbo Automotive was reportedly hired to repair the vehicle so it could be sold to the public.
But Jumbo allegedly purchased and installed counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components built and sold by Jilin Detiannuo Province. The lawsuit also alleges that the Chevy Malibu’s seat belt tensioner was never replaced or repaired. Instead, the wires were supposedly cut.
Once supposedly repaired, the Malibu was sold by DriveTime to Destiny Byassee.
The Destiny Byassee exploding airbag lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit for Broward County Florida: Cathy King, as Personal Representative for the Estate of Destiny Marie Byassee v. Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co., LTD, et al..
The plaintiffs are represented by Morgan & Morgan, PA
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