Automotive Products Liability Lawyer

Car accidents are not always the fault of the drivers, or the weather, or driver distractions. Sometimes, car accidents occur because of a manufacturing or design defect of the car that was out of the control of the driver and caused the car to malfunction. Because these cases are often unexpected, the resulting car crash can be catastrophic, leading to severe injuries and sometimes wrongful death. There are many elements that go into an automotive product liability case. A good product liability lawyer will investigate thoroughly what the actual defect that caused the accident was and investigate the entire stream of production and manufacturing to determine all of the potentially responsible parties.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident and you believe it was caused by a defect in the car or its parts. Contact a product liability lawyer at GSGB today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

Types of Automotive Product Liability Claims

Defective Seat belts

Seat belts are the first and often most important line of defense in protecting someone from serious injuries or death in a car accident. However, as the product liability lawyers at GSGB know, seat belt defects can occur due to errors in manufacturing or design flaws. When a driver or passenger has relied upon the safety or sturdiness of a seat belt, only to be injured when the seat belt is defective, they may have a products liability case. There are many ways a seat belt may be defective. Some of the ways a seat belt can be defective include:

• False latching – This happens when the passenger believes the seat belt is buckled properly, but the buckle fails to latch due to a defect.

• Inertial Unlatching – This happens if the force of the accident is greater than the seat belt buckle can withstand and the buckle becomes unlatched thrusting the passenger forward.

• Failure of the seat belt retractor – This occurs when the seat belt retractor fails to lock, causing the seat belt to fit loosely around the passenger, rather than snuggly, which is how it is supposed to keep the passenger safe.

• Defective seat belt webbing – This happens when the webbing of the seat belt is torn or ripped due to the force of an accident because of mistakes in the design or manufacturing of the seat belt.

Defective Airbags

Airbags are generally located in the steering wheel, dashboard and sides of the car and are connected to a crash sensor. That sensor is supposed to send a signal to the airbag to go off if the car has been involved in a severe collision. When the sensor goes off, the airbag deploys in a fraction of a second at 100 miles per hour. While airbags are another primary defense against injuries in car accidents, when they malfunction, they can cause serious and catastrophic injuries. Some of the common product liability cases involving airbags are malfunctioning sensors, or loose parts that can shoot out with the deployment of the airbag.

Unintended acceleration

When there is a defect in the accelerator of a car, or a design flaw in the positioning of the pedals, it can result in the car accelerating at times when the driver does not intend it. This can be particularly dangerous in merging situations or easing into an intersection.

Defective tires

The NHTSA reports that there are 11,000 tire-related car accidents every year. Tire blowouts due to manufacturing or design flaws can lead to unexpected loss of control of the vehicle and usually end up in severe car accidents. However, blowouts are one example of defective tires. Defects in the design of a tire may also lead to tread separation or sidewall failure. Over inflation or under inflation due to improper instructions can also lead to loss of traction and unsafe driving conditions.

Contact a Product Liability Lawyer

These are just a few of the many examples of potential automotive product defects. There are countless other examples of manufacturing or design flaws that lead to severe car accidents every day. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car crash and you believe it may have been due to a defective car, reach out to a personal injury lawyer at GSGB today to receive a free and confidential case evaluation.

Disclaimer: This website is for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual care or situation. Gold, Silverman, Goldenberg & Binder has offices in Philadelphia, Wayne and Voorhees and serves clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.