Lawsuit claims ‘car bling’ caused S.C. woman to lose her eye

Late in 2024, Shaneise Manaiza was in a wreck in Columbia. She could have walked away from the accident relatively unscathed, except for something that flew off the cover of her steering wheel air bag and into her face “like shrapnel from a grenade,” causing her to lose her left eye, according to a lawsuit filed in Richland County Court of Common Pleas.

It wasn’t an original part of the car or anything from outside it. It was a piece of “car bling” – a product she had bought through Amazon that was made by a Chinese company called Shenzhen Runsheng Investment Development Co., Ltd. Those companies are being sued in a court action filed by Ronnie Crosby of Parker Law Group on Manaiza’s behalf.

According to the lawsuit, the product is made, advertised and sold by these companies without any warning to unsuspecting consumers. Manaiza is not alone in having been seriously injured when the piece of bling – mounted on the cover of her air bag – exploded into pieces when the bag deployed.

The suit says, “Plaintiff was never warned about the danger that the Subject Product [the “bling”] posed. Plaintiff would not have purchased the Subject Product if she was fully aware and informed of the dangers that the Subject Product posed.”

Crosby is preparing another case involving an injury caused by a fragment of car bling. He says there have been others across the country. As a result, in 2023 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a consumer alert warning the public not to buy such products and put them over their air bags. In part, it said:

The product is a metal or plastic plate, usually covered with rhinestones or other shiny decorations, with an adhesive back that covers the vehicle’s logo in the center of the steering wheel. In a crash, the force of a deploying air bag can turn the product into a projectile, resulting in serious injury or death.

Shaneise Manaiza had never seen this warning. This is not a surprise. Only people who already know such a warning exists are likely ever to find it. Try it yourself. If you Google the words “car bling,” you will find loads of ads, and an innocuous AI description:

“To add some serious sparkle to your ride, you can upgrade your vehicle with pre-made crystal accessories like rhinestone license plate frames, steering wheel covers, and shifter knobs. For a high-end, custom look, consider bedazzling your dashboard or exterior emblems using premium rhinestones and a strong two-part epoxy.”

But if you Google “car bling NHTSA,” the first thing you see is this:

“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) strongly warns against using aftermarket, stick-on “bling” or rhinestone decals on your steering wheel. When airbags deploy, these decorative covers can turn into dangerous projectiles, resulting in severe injuries or death.”

Attorney Crosby is, on Manaiza’s behalf, asking the Richland County Court of Common Pleas to award her “all such damages in the form of actual, consequential, and punitive damages to be determined by the trier of fact.” The defendants include the two companies above, plus the driver of the other car, who the lawsuit alleges operated her own vehicle in a negligent manner.