Dangerous vehicles as a cause of injuries and fatalities

Dangerous cars

Some fatalities in car collisions are caused, and injuries are made more severe, by failures in the vehicle’s design.

Casey Gerry's San Diego car accident attorneys represented the families of two young people who died recently when the seats and seatbelts in their KIA vehicle failed to function properly. They were traveling in their KIA vehicle on I-8 when a tractor trailer hit their car a glancing blow in the rear. Both vehicles’ speeds were low, and the force of the impact was not severe; it was the sort of collision in which passenger seats and seatbelts should protect the occupants. Yet the KIA’s seat backs in the Kia crumpled and collapsed backward. When the driver’s seat back collapsed, he fell backward and could no longer hold the steering wheel or operate the gas and brake pedals. Without a driver controlling it, the vehicle lurched to the shoulder, where it rolled over.

The KIA’s seatbelts also failed. For over 15 years automotive designers had known that that design was dangerous. When the truck struck their vehicle the seatbelts tore loose from their fasteners. Now the young couple had no restraints, and when their car rolled over, both were both partially ejected and suffered injuries on impact. They later died from their injuries. Their deaths were a direct result of the defective vehicle occupant protection system.

All too often automotive manufacturers lay out high safety standards, but cut corners or make design changes, and do not meet their own standards. The result can be serious injury or death to users of the vehicles. In this case, Casey Gerry car accident lawyers were able to use in KIA’s internal documents that they had violated their own standards. The victims’ families were awarded substantial compensation for the loss of their young adult children.

An elderly woman traveling with her son in the rear seat of his 1986 Cadillac de Ville died for lack of a three-point seat belt. Her son was driving, her daughter was in the front seat and the three were on their way to a family gathering. As the car crested a hill the son saw a vehicle parked partially in the roadway. He braked hard, but was unable to get clear of the parked vehicle, and slammed into its back end. His mother was thrown violent forward into her lap belt, and her upper body jackknifed forward. She hemorrhaged internally, and suffered broken ribs, fractures of the spine and pelvis. Paramedics attended her, but despite their best efforts she suffered a full cardiac arrest and died before she could be transported to a hospital.

Casey Gerry car accident attorneys demonstrated that General Motors fully understood the risk of jackknifing and injury associated with lap belts. Yet they opposed federal standards for three-point belts, because three point belts would have increased the cost per vehicle by $12. General Motors saved $12 on the son’s Coup de Ville, and a family lost a devoted mother and grandmother. Through mediation the family obtained substantial damages for the unnecessary loss of their mother’s life.

Casey Gerry has represented seriously injured victims and bereaved families many cases involving light trucks and SUV’s. In one particularly egregious case, Casey Gerry car accident attorneys filed a claim against Toyota on behalf of the families of three young men, all married, who died when the driver of a Toyota 4-Runner lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle overturned. Vehicle collision experts working with Casey Gerry lawyers determined that the vehicle’s compromised stability and maneuverability created a high risk of serious injury or death to its occupants. The expert testimony enabled our lawyers to show that the 4-Runner’s design was seriously flawed and contributed to the young men’s deaths. This was the basis for a substantial settlement for their widows and children.

Neglectful installation of equipment can be as lethal as flawed design. Casey Gerry car accident attorneys represented three adult children in an action against Sears for the death of their mother caused by the defective installation of a tire. Two sisters, their husbands and children, and their mother were traveling when the left rear tire of the vehicle blew out. The car veered into the median, and then rolled over. The grandmother was thrown from the car, and suffered injuries which caused her death. Two young children were also thrown from the vehicle and sustained significant injuries, additionally suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from seeing their grandmother killed.

Four new tires had been purchased and installed at Sears less than two weeks before the accident. Casey Gerry’s tire expert determined that although the tire was sound when sold, a careless installation caused a large cut in the tire carcass. When the family’s vehicle left the installation bay it was a disaster waiting to happen. As the vehicle was traveling at highway speed, the cut spread, the tire tore away from the rim and deflated instantaneously. Casey Gerry’s car accident lawyer established that the installer had twice before cut a tire while installing it, that Sears was aware of this, and had continued to allow him to work. The settlement took into account the children’s injuries, and the family’s loss of a dear and valued mother and grandmother.

In a situation where a product that did not meet generally accepted standards of safety design, or a product that was manufactured or installed negligently has contributed to serious injury or death, you may want to consult a plaintiff’s law firm experienced in such matters.

Defective design of a car seat led to serious injuries for a 17 year old college student, including internal bleeding and compression fracture of the spine, and left him with abdominal pain, back pain, and an inability to live the athletic lifestyle he had previously enjoyed. He was riding in the rear seat of a Chevy Cavalier when the car was involved in a collision. His seatbelt, which should have offered him protection, instead contributed to his injuries. The seatbelt retractor failed to lock at the moment of the collision. It allowed a further portion of the seatbelt to unspool, thereby making the belt useless as a restraint. The young man slid forward under his lap belt, an effect known as “submarining.” His forward motion was increased by a seat design that was not only defective, but dangerous: the seat cushion was built without the structural ramp that could have prevented the occupant from sliding forward.

When, inches too late, the seat belt finally locked, it had risen higher on the young man’s abdominal wall. He was moving forward with considerable force, so that when he slammed against the belt, the impact caused serious internal injuries and bleeding. The force was so great that he also suffered a compression fracture of his first lumbar vertebra. He was treated at the accident scene, and then hospitalized, where he required extensive diagnostic procedures to determine the nature and extent of his injuries. He also endured several surgeries, both in his abdomen and for his spinal fracture. Despite his surgeons’ best efforts, this young man continued to suffer pain in his gut and back pain, and he also lost a significant degree of flexibility. He was an active surfer and skateboarder, and could no longer do either of these sports that he had formerly enjoyed.

The Casey Gerry car accident attorneys who represented him showed that General Motors used a seatbelt retractor on the Cavalier that failed to meet federal minimum safety standards. They also showed that GM had known of the flaws in the design of the seat ramp since the 1970’s. For over 30 years this large corporation had continued to install and sell a dangerous seat in their vehicles. In mediation Casey Gerry’s young client was awarded a sum which covered the medical expenditures he had already incurred, and the medical expenses he could anticipate in the future. Additional compensation was added for his loss of quality of life.

A 25 year old man who was studying to become a teacher suffered life-changing injuries when the roof of his 1996 Chevy Blazer crushed his spine. He was driving, wearing his seatbelt his vehicle went into a skid because of a steep, unexpected dip in the road. The Blazer careened off the road and rolled over several times. The vehicle’s roof crushed onto his head in the first roll. It rolled several more times, then stopped right side up. The cars three passengers walked away unharmed, but the force of the roof crushing down on the driver did irreversible damage to his spine. At 25 he became paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down.

After long and painful recovery this active, athletic young man, faced the prospect of a lifetime in a wheelchair, unable to feel anything in the lower half of his body. He will be dependent on friends and paid caregivers to attend his most basic personal needs.

Medical consultants and automotive crash specialists retained by Casey Gerry were able to show that the roof crush resulted from the vehicle rollover, and that our client’s irreversible paraplegia was in fact a result of the roof crush.

His Casey Gerry car accident attorney established that General Motors had knowledge of the increased risk of rollover, in vehicles with a high center of gravity posed a greater risk. For over 35 years, crash research has established that deformation of the roof caused by collapse of the forward roof pillar and the roof’s pushing into the passenger compartment caused many serious injuries and deaths. Yet knowing what their own research had shown, GM continued to build vehicles, including the Chevy Blazer, that had a high center of gravity. They also increased the Blazer’s weight and failed to increase the strength and load-bearing capacity of the forward pillar.

Casey Gerry attorneys requested that a physician who understood the consequences of paraplegia draw up a life care plan for their client. Based on a detailed understanding of his injuries, the plan estimated his medical and care needs, and his loss of income over his lifetime. His lawyers obtained a generous settlement that provided their worthy and deserving client a future of care and sufficient compensation.

In another instance of flawed design, a San Diego man suffered a serious collision at highway speed due to the simultaneous failure of a front shock absorber and several steering components. No longer able to steer, he watched helplessly as the truck, a 2005 Ford F-150, lurched at full speed, into oncoming traffic, and slammed head-on into another vehicle. The truck was totaled and the driver suffered fractured vertebrae in his neck and his left foot. He was hospitalized for his injuries, and since the collision he has experienced severe pain, disabling anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in the form of flashbacks of the collision. He could not work while he was hospitalized and then recuperating. He has been unable to work at the level of earning he enjoyed before the accident.

Casey Gerry attorneys established that the Ford dealership that sold and maintained the vehicle and the Ford Motor Company knew or should have known of defects in the design and manufacture of the shock absorber and steering components. Failing to repair or replace the defective components and representing that the vehicle was safe constituted a lapse in the exercise of ordinary care and reasonable diligence, the California standard for negligence. On behalf of their client Casey Gerry negotiated a settlement that covered his medical expenses at the time of his injuries, the medical expenses he could anticipate in the future, his past and future loss of income, and his pain and suffering.