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 recently brought an action against KIA Motors Corporation for a crash in which both seats and seatbelts failed in a KIA vehicle, causing the deaths of two young people. The KIA vehicle, driven on I-8, was hit a glancing blow in the rear end by a tractor trailer. Although the vehicles’ speeds and the force of the impact were relatively mild, the seats in the KIA vehicle buckled and collapsed backward. The collapse of the driver’s seat caused him to fall backward, losing contact with the pedals and the steering wheel. Out of control, the vehicle lurched to the shoulder and then rolled over.

The KIA’s seatbelts were constructed in a design known for over 15 years to be dangerous, and at impact they tore from their mounts. Without seatbelts restraining them, the young couple were both partially ejected during the rollover, and died from injuries suffered on impact. Their deaths were a direct result of the defective vehicle occupant protection system.

Casey Gerry San Diego car accident attorneys were able to show in KIA’s own documents that they had violated their own internal standards. We have found that very often manufacturers will establish a sufficiently high standard of safety for themselves, but then fail to meet it, resulting in serious injury or death to users of the vehicles. The families of the victims received substantial compensation for their losses.

General Motors’ failure to provide a three-point seatbelt for passengers in the rear seat of its 1986 Cadillac de Ville caused the death of an elderly woman. The woman was traveling on an interstate with her son, who was driving, and her daughter, who was in the front seat, on the way to a family gathering. They came over a hill and found on a vehicle parked partially in the roadway. The son hit the brakes and tried to avoid the car, but ended up colliding with the rear end of it. The collision and the rapid deceleration slammed the back seat passenger into the belt, and caused her body to jackknife over it. She was in serious distress, and paramedics were called to the scene. While they were attending to her she went into full cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her injuries included broken ribs, fractures of the spine and pelvis, and major internal hemorrhaging in her chest and abdomen.

General Motors had for many years been aware of the dangers of jackknifiing and injury that lap belts presented. Despite this they fought federal standards for three-point belts, arguing that these belts would increase the cost per vehicle by $12. General Motors saved $12 on the price of this 1986 Cadillac De Ville, and cost a family the life of a loving mother and grandmother. The mediator for the case awarded the family substantial damages for the unneccessary loss of their mother’s life.

Over the last 20 years, Casey Gerry has litigated a large number of cases against manufacturers of SUVs and light trucks. Casey Gerry car accident attorneys represented several families for the wrongful death of three young men, all married, who were killed when their Toyota 4-Runner went out of control and flipped over. Casey Gerry worked with experts who examined the stability and maneuverability of the vehicle, and with their testimony we were able to establish that the 4-Runner’s design created a high risk of serious injury or death to the occupants.

Neglectful installation of equipment can also be lethal. 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 auto 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.