Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries Explained by Our Car Accident Attorneys
Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries Explained by Our Car Accident Attorneys
What Are Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals?
Steering wheel emblem bling decals are a popular product that consumers buy to spruce up the appearance of their vehicles. These decals consist of rigid pieces of metal alloy, metal or hard plastic that are encrusted with rhinestones, crystals, gems or other sparkly objects. These pieces are adhesive backed and are designed to be inserted into the spaces in a car’s steering wheel emblem or around it.
Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injury Attorneys
The attorneys at the Piccuta Law Group, LLP have become experts in steering wheel emblem bling decal injuries. We are currently litigating claims and cases for these injuries. These include claims for serious injuries caused by these products following a car accident. Our work on these cases has made us leaders in knowing the specific details associated with these dangerous products and resulting injuries.
What Kind of Vehicles Are Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals Made for?
Steering wheel emblem bling decals are made for almost all automobile types. This includes:
- Audi
- BMW
- Ford
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Infiniti
- Jeep
- Lexus
- Mercedez Benz
- Nissan
- Volkswagen
- Toyota
The research performed by our injury attorneys shows that the most popular and most widely distributed are bling emblems made for Honda vehicles.
Who Manufactures Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals?
Steering wheel emblem bling decals appear to be made by multiple manufacturers. The exact amount is uncertain. Our injury attorneys have found several companies holding themselves out as manufacturers of the product.
However, all these companies are based in China. As such, it is unclear if they are actually manufacturing the product or if they are made by just a few manufacturers who distribute them to other Chinese companies who hold themselves out as the maker.
Some of those companies include: AEEIX, CHYDST, Cuizfree, Mingzaiqiepi, Vichona, ZTMagic and Zellya.
How Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals Causes Injuries?
Steering wheel emblem bling injuries occur when the steering wheel airbag deploys. The airbag going off causes significant force. The force from this airbag deployment causes the steering wheel emblem decal pieces to dislodge from the steering wheel cover. This is because these pieces are not permanently affixed to the steering wheel cover and are only held in place by adhesive.
The pieces then become dangerous projectiles and are shot through the vehicle at high rates of speed. These metal pieces fly through the car like shrapnel from a grenade or like Chinese throwing stars. When they do, they penetrate into the bodies of the occupants of the vehicle like bullets and cause serious injuries.
What Kind of Car Accident Claims Arise from Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries?
Since steering wheel emblem bling decal injuries occur after a car accident, there are several claims that can be advanced. If a driver is injured, a claim can be brought against the other driver involved in the crash. A claim can also be brought against the injured driver’s own auto insurance if he or she has uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
If a passenger was injured by a steering wheel emblem bling decal, he or she can recover from the owner of the vehicle he or she was riding in. In that situation, the owner of the vehicle would be responsible for installing the dangerous emblem bling. The passenger could also recover from the other driver if the other driver was at fault. Finally, the passenger may be able to recover from his or her own auto insurance if he or she had insurance coverage that applied.
Product Liability Claims Can Arise from Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries
In addition to the above claims, that can be brought against applicable car insurance, product liability claims can be brought for a steering wheel bling decal injury. This includes the following claims:
- Design defect
- Manufacturing defect
- Failure to Warn
- Failure to Recall
These claims can be brought against anyone in the vertical chain of distribution. This includes claims against the manufacturer, seller, distributor or anyone else responsible for getting the product to the consumer.
Product liability claims offer advantages over car insurance claims. Although more complicated to advance, these claims are not limited by insurance policy limits like car accident claims. The companies that sell steering wheel emblem bling decals have significant assets. As such, there is generally no limit to the amount that can be recovered in compensation.
Product liability claims also arise from strict liability. This means that a person who is injured by a product need not prove that the company who made, distributed or sold the product had a duty. The duty is automatically established under law. In sum, all the injured person needs to show is that a company was integral in bringing the defective product to the consumer and the consumer was injured.
What Kind of Car Accidents Cause Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Injuries?
Any car accident that causes the steering wheel airbag to deploy can cause a steering wheel emblem bling injury. This is typically an accident involving some sort of frontal impact since this is where the frontal impact airbag sensor is. These accidents do not have to be at high rates of speed.
…they would not have suffered any injury at all but for the steering wheel emblem bling.
Even a minimal impact car accident can cause the steering wheel airbag to deploy and can result in a steering wheel emblem bling injury. Unfortunately, individuals who are in these low-speed impacts are seriously injured by the steering wheel bling. In many cases, this is the only injury they sustain. In other words, they would not have suffered any injury at all but for the steering wheel emblem bling.
What Types of Injuries Result from Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Accessory Stickers?
As discussed above, injuries result when pieces of the steering wheel emblem bling fly through a vehicle at high rates of speed. This results in penetration injuries. The pieces penetrate tissue and flesh impaling victims and causing lacerations and more serious injuries.
Some of the serious injuries that can occur include:
- lacerations to the neck and face causing scarring
- destruction of the eye resulting in blindness
- penetration into the lungs resulting in collapsed lungs and need for surgery
- penetration into other vital organs and airways that could potentially lead to death
Documented Medical Cases Caused By Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals
There are multiple medical cases involving steering wheel emblem bling decal injuries. Two of these cases have been reported in medical journals describing the surgeries required to remove the pieces. Both of those reported cases occurred in California.
The first report was published in Cureus Journal of Medical Science—a peer reviewed academic journal. The report was published in March of 2024 by surgeons at Kaweah Health Medical Center in Visalia, California. It involved a 43-year-old woman who was in a car accident where the airbag deployed.
The deployment projected two pieces of steering wheel emblem bling decals at her face and neck. Both pieces required surgical removal and left permanent scars. The piece embedded in her face penetrated her right cheek. The report stated “this case highlights the potential for dangers caused by aftermarket rhinestone emblems on steering wheels. We recommend that increased national advisories and legislative action be considered to limit the use of these emblems.”
The second report was published in Case Reports in Surgery – Wiley Online Library. The lead author was a surgeon from Stanford University School of Medicine. The report was published in August 2024 and involved a 25-year-old woman who was in a car accident.
The car accident caused airbag deployment and a piece of steering wheel emblem bling embedded in the subcutaneous tissue of her left breast. The woman experienced burning pain daily following the car accident. Four months following the crash, after continued problems, a surgical excision was performed to remove the object.
The report stated that the object “appeared as a metallic object with rhinestones, which the patient confirmed was a decorative emblem decal that was on her steering wheel.” The conclusion of the report stated that “safety precautions [] should be taken regarding the addition of this type of accessory.”
Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries Reported by the Media
Steering wheel emblem decal injuries have been reported on social media and in mainstream news media. This includes stories of individuals who have been injured across the country from California to Florida. One such story involved a woman named Logan Browning.
Browning was involved in a car accident in Florida while driving her 2020 Honda Accord. After the impact, she went to the emergency room to have her bumps and bruises evaluated. While there, medical providers discovered a piece of steering wheel bling accessory embedded in her arm.
Unbeknownst to Browning, the piece had become embedded in her arm after the crash. It penetrated her arm with such force that she did not even realize that a foreign object was lodged in her arm until notified by emergency room personnel. The piece was then surgically removed.
Browning was lucky as she did not suffer a disabling injury. Other unsuspecting users of this product were not so lucky. One such user was a woman from Los Angeles, California.
She was driving her 2017 Honda Civic when she was involved in a lower impact crash. The crash caused her airbag to deploy. When it did, a piece of steering wheel bling accessory penetrated her eye.
At first, she did not know what happened. She believed that the airbag had caused her eyeglasses to break and that a glass piece from her lens had entered her eye. However, trauma surgeons later removed a piece of steering wheel emblem bling from her eye.
Unfortunately for her, the damage to her eye was severe. Her eye could not be saved and was surgically removed. She now has a prosthetic eye in its place.
Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Accessories and the Consumer Product Safety Commission
It does not appear that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has addressed steering wheel emblem bling decals. A search of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website shows that there are no reports, product recalls, Commission actions, regulations or manufacturer guidance with respect to these products. The steering wheel emblem bling accessory attorneys at our firm are working to report this product to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Our goal is to alert the Commission to the dangers of this product so that it will be recalled and outlawed.
What has NHTSA Said About Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decals?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, also known as NHTSA, has recognized the dangers associated with steering wheel emblem bling decals. Specifically, NHTSA has warned consumers not to use these products because of the serious risk of injury they pose.
On November 6, 2023, NHTSA issued a consumer alert entitled “Don’t Buy or Use Steering Wheel Decorative Emblem Decals.” The report warned consumers “to avoid purchasing these steering wheel decals for all vehicle makes and models.” It also advised consumers to “remove any such decals that they have already applied to their steering wheels.”
Sellers of Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Accessory Products
Steering wheel emblem decals can be purchased online through multiple sellers. Those retail sellers include Walmart, Amazon and Temu. These products can also be purchased through websites like Etsy and Ebay. However, of all the online sellers, Amazon appears to have sold the majority of the steering wheel emblem bling decals currently in circulation throughout the United States.
This means that Amazon may have introduced over 100,000 ticking timebombs onto the steering wheels of unsuspecting users.
The exact number of individual units that Amazon has sold is uncertain. However, our attorneys estimate that it could be over 100,000 units. This means that Amazon may have introduced over 100,000 ticking timebombs onto the steering wheels of unsuspecting users.
Holding Amazon Responsible for Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injuries After a Car Accident
Depending on the laws of your state, Amazon may be held responsible for selling a steering wheel emblem bling decal that causes an injury. In California, this is certainly the case. Cases have established that Amazon may be held responsible, under a product liability legal claim, for selling dangerous and defective products.
Whether Amazon can be held responsible for your steering wheel bling emblem decal injury involves a detailed legal analysis. Several factors must be analyzed to determine if liability may be established. This includes, but is not limited to:
- whether or not Amazon shipped the product
- whether or not Amazon handled returns
- whether or not Amazon engaged in customer communications
- whether or not Amazon stored the product
- whether or not Amazon processed payment for the product
- the relationships between Amazon and the company who provided the product to Amazon
If you or a loved one was injured by a steering wheel emblem bling decal, you should contact our law firm to determine if you may be entitled to compensation.
Lawsuits Involving Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Injuries
Our attorneys filed one of the first steering wheel emblem bling decal injury lawsuits in the country. The lawsuit is against Amazon for selling the dangerous product. The lawsuit alleges that a steering wheel emblem bling piece dislodged from the steering wheel of the client’s vehicle during a car accident.
The piece shot through the client’s vehicle and penetrated the client’s eye. This left the client severely injured and resulted in the loss of sight in the injured eye. The lawsuit is entitled Martinez v. Amazon.com Services, LLC and is pending in Federal court in the Northern District of California.
Contact an Experienced Attorney to Handle Your Steering Wheel Emblem Bling Decal Injury Case
If you or a loved one was injured by a steering wheel emblem bling decal, contact the attorneys at the Piccuta Law Group today. Our attorneys are pioneers in advancing these cases and claims. We have specialized experience and knowledge based on our handling of past claims and can help you win your case. A consultation is free and we only earn a fee if we recover for you.
Resources:
[1] https://assets.cureus.com/uploads/case_report/pdf/238912/20240420-4723-1a6ghn3.pdf
[2] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2024/5262600
[4] https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/consumer-alert-steering-wheel-decorative-emblem-decals
About the author: The content on this page was written by California personal injury attorney and civil rights lawyer Charles “Tony” Piccuta. Piccuta graduated with honors from Indiana University-Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana (Previously ranked Top 35 US News & World Report). Piccuta took and passed the State bars of Arizona, California, Illinois and Nevada (all on the first try). He actively practices throughout California and Arizona. He is a winning trial attorney that regularly handles serious personal injury cases and civil rights lawsuits. He has obtained six and seven figure verdicts in both state and federal court. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers for six years straight. He is AV Rated by Martindale Hubble. He is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, American Association for Justice, National Police Accountability Project, Arizona Association of Justice, and many local county and City bar associations.
Disclaimer: The information on this web site is attorney advertising and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Reading and relying upon the content on this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, you should contact our law firm for a free consultation and to discuss your specific case and issues.
