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Defective Auto Products: PRODUCT LIABILITY Law

A product is defectively designed if it fails to perform as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or foreseeable manner (the “consumer expectations” test). It also fails to perform if the product’s design caused injury and the manufacturer of the product fails to prove that the benefits of the design outweighed the risk of danger inherent in such design (the “risk/benefit” test).

A Product May Be Dangerous On One Of Three Grounds:

  • The product was defectively designed, so that all items produced, distributed, and sold share the same danger.
  • The product was defectively manufactured, in which case the entire product line is not inherently dangerous, but only a specific individual product is faulty.
  • The product is dangerous because of a lack of sufficient instructions regarding its assembly and use, or it fails to adequately warn of dangers associated with use of the product.

Common Types of Vehicle Defects

Defective Tires

Tire failures or blowouts are a major cause of rollovers. Throughout the years, evidence of dangerous tires sold by some of the largest manufacturers in the world has shown that tires are not suitable for use. Tread separation is one of the most common reasons for a tire blowout and can be attributed to poor tread design, which causes separation while the car is in motion. At highway speeds, the defective tires “blow out” caused by the tread separation causing serious accidents including rollovers, spinouts, and other single vehicle accidents.

Brake Failure

Brake systems in cars are extremely complex, involving parts such as discs, rotors, calipers, and hydraulic lines – all of which must work together properly in order for the brakes to function and stop the vehicle safely. If brake failure occurs, the driver and his or her passengers – as well as innocent bystanders – may be at risk of a serious accident and subsequent injuries or death.

Defective Airbags / Airbag Malfunction

A defective airbag is one that fails to deploy or deploys when it is not supposed to. Over the past year, airbags have been in the news for many of the wrong reasons. Several automakers have been forced to issue NHTSA recalls for defective airbags. Airbag defects have caused spinal injuries, fractured necks, head and brain injuries, facial injuries, and eye injuries in motorists. When an airbag deploys when an accident has not occurred, it may cause a driver to lose control.

Crushed / Collapsed Roof

When a vehicle rolls over in an accident, in many cases the roof collapses, causing injury to the vehicle’s occupants. Some 24,000 people are severely injured each year by crushed roofs in rollover accidents in the United States, and more than 10,000 are killed. Crushed roofs contribute to approximately more than a quarter of serious or fatal injuries in more than a quarter of rollover crashes. When a roof collapses in a rollover accident, it may cause serious injury to the occupants of the vehicle, including quadriplegia or paraplegia. It can also result in traumatic brain injury to the vehicle’s occupants, as well as other serious injuries, even death.

Defective Auto Glass

Despite the different functions performed by the auto glass; windshields, windows, and other glass have protective qualities that can prevent vehicle ejection and even reinforce the roof of a vehicle during rollover accidents. But while auto glass serves an important purpose when it comes to safety, using defective or inadequate products can actually cause harm drivers and occupants, and become a dangerous element of an accident.

Car Fires

Vehicle fires can be caused by electrical malfunctions, fuel tank location or by failures of the fuel lines or fuel tank. Electrical fires begin in or around the dashboard. Fires from faulty fuel lines or tanks start under the car or on the street below and spread rapidly as leaking fuel ignites. Both types of fires are often the result of defective vehicle design or manufacturing defects. A car fire can be a devastating after-effect of a car crash, leading to severe injuries and even death.

Seat Back Failure

The proper position of the seat is critical to the effectiveness of vehicle safety systems. When the back of a bucket seat breaks or collapses in a crash, not only is the occupant exposed to serious injury from the seat back collapse, the occupant is also exposed to serious injury as a result of other safety systems (seat belts, airbags, etc.) that cannot function properly.

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