Yes, it can become too late, and if you miss the deadline the court can throw the case out even if the airbag was recalled and clearly made your injuries worse.

What should have happened then: after the crash, the car should have been preserved without repairs or salvage, the recall status checked through NHTSA, and the airbag module, crash data, and repair records saved. In Connecticut, a regular crash injury claim against a driver is usually subject to a 2-year deadline. A product claim is different: under the Connecticut Product Liability Act, claims against a manufacturer, seller, distributor, or installer generally must be brought within 3 years from when the injury was first sustained or discovered, and there is also a 10-year outer limit in many cases.

If you were a Danbury nurse or other healthcare worker hurt while driving for work during winter conditions, workers' comp may have covered medical care and lost time, but that does not automatically wipe out a separate product claim over a defective airbag, seat belt, tire, or brake part.

What to do now: figure out the exact dates. The key dates are the crash date, when you first learned the product may have worsened the injury, and whether the vehicle still exists. Get:

• the police report
• recall notices
• repair invoices
• hospital records
• photos of the vehicle and injuries
• insurer correspondence from Hartford-based carriers or others
• proof the vehicle was sold, scrapped, or repaired

If the car was totaled on I-84 near Danbury or Waterbury, ask immediately where it went. A destroyed vehicle can wreck the evidence.

What comes next: the claim is usually framed as strict liability, negligence, or failure to warn against the product chain. The fight often becomes manufacturer vs. seller vs. installer. The seller may blame the maker; the installer may blame a bad part. Connecticut law lets those claims be brought in one product liability case, but only if you are still within the clock.