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Valley woman hurt after she says car airbags spontaneously deployed

She was driving down Thunderbird Road when the airbags in her 2009 Chevy Malibu deployed without a crash.

PHOENIX — Jenay Winn was driving down Thunderbird Road on a quiet evening, going the speed limit, when without a crash, bump in the road or any warning, she ways her airbags went off.

"Pow! There was a big noise and sparks started flying in my car. I actually thought somebody shot me," recalls Winn about the evening the airbags in her 2009 Chevy Malibu deployed, seemingly spontaneously.

She drove home and noticed her chest had burn marks from where the seat belt dug into her skin.

She contacted Chevy, and they gave her a loaner car at first and then they even upgraded her.

But back in October, a third-party claims department offered her $8,000-- Kelly Blue Book value-- for her car.

Winn refused it.

"She goes, 'We're treating it like an insurance claim' and I told her, this is not an insurance claim, this is a safety issue," Winn said.

Once she refused the offer, Winn had to give the loaner car back. Since then, she has been relying on a bicycle to get her to and from her caregiving job.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are 42 air bag complaints on the 2009 Chevy Malibu.

Some are complaints about airbags failing to deploy. Others are for warning lights, but there are seven complaints of airbags deploying seemingly without warning.

Attorney Lynn Shumway doesn't represent Winn, but has specialized in airbag cases for several decades. He said people who aren't seriously injured have a hard time getting compensated by car companies.

"The law does not provide a good legal mechanism for a person who has property damage caused by an automobile defect," said Shumway.

Meanwhile, Winn is still using her bike to get to work, often braving triple degree temperatures.

"The public should be aware," she said. "I'm so thankful nothing happened or that I didn't have my grandson with me, or that I wasn't on a freeway. I could have been killed or killed somebody else."

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