Every year 3.7 million people die in highway crashes. An additional 2.35 million people are injured or disabled. Driving down the highway is dangerous. Our vehicles should not make those trips more dangerous. However, often times our vehicles are built and designed poorly causing us unnecessary harm. Defective product claims typically fall into one of three categories, defective design, defective manufacturing, or failure to properly warn of a defect.
We as drivers often hear about manufacturer recalls to address various defects. For example, the massive Honda acceleration recalls, GM ignition switch recalls, or the Ford recalls to address steering issues. These recalls can be a result of product defects or malfunctions causing accidents and injuries. The Nigam Law Firm is experienced in handling these complex cases.
Types of auto product cases
Airbags defects
Regulations passed in the late 1990’s requiring vehicles to have passive restraint systems, such as seat belts and airbags, for drivers and passengers. The proper deployment of airbags can save lives; however, when the vehicle’s airbags malfunction due to manufacturing or design defects, they can be dangerous and cause more harm than good.
Examples of airbag defects include:
- Failure to deploy
- Late deployment
- Airbag having a horizontal inflation path
- Failure to test crash with a range of dummies
- Lack of internal tethers
- Faulty crash sensors
- Overly powerful inflators
- Overpowered deployment
- Accidental deployment
Rollovers and Roof Crushes
There are approximately 250,000 rollover crashes per year. And approximately 10,000 Americans are killed in rollover accidents, accounting for about 30% of all light vehicle occupant deaths. Because sport utility vehicles are taller and narrower, they are three times more likely to rollover in an accident than other passenger cars.
During a rollover, the roof can crush into the passenger area causing serious injuries, including paralysis or even death.
Tire Defects
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that of all the crashes reported to the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey, 9% involved tire issues. Tire problems include issues such as blowouts, manufacturing defects, design defects, tread separation, and aging tires.
There are a number of different forms of tire failure, and any of them can lead to serious injuries and death, including:
- Tire blowouts
- Tire defects
- Tire tread separation: when a tire tread separates, it can cause a complete lack of control of the vehicle, often leading to roll overs.
- Tire age: manufacturers and sellers may not disclose the age of the tire before you purchase it. The NHTSA estimates that from 2005-2007, 90 people died and an additional 3,200 were injured in crashes where aging tires were an issue.
If you believe your wreck was a result of a tire defect, do not dispose of the tire or allow it to be disposed of. In addition, do not let the vehicle be sold or destroyed. It is important to find out where the tire is being stored and make arrangements to keep the tire and the vehicle.
Call an auto product liability attorney
The Nigam Law Firm, PLLC is experienced in these types of cases. The Nigam Law Firm has a team of experts ready to work these cases to determine the cause and to hold the responsible parties accountable.
