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Civil Suits for Defective Autos and Other Motor Vehicles

One of the most challenging areas of law is that of automobile products liability cases. These cases are stoutly defended by the automakers, so are only economically viable in cases where there are truly severe injuries such as a spinal cord injury, brain injury, or death.

Many cases involve manufacturing defects, where a particular component of the vehicle failed. However, many are prosecuted on the basis that there was an unsafe design of the car, SUV, or van.

Some defects are the actual cause of the crash, such as:

• Tire defects and blow-outs - when a tire fails catastrophically, this can result in a sudden and unexpected loss of control and stopping power, some times at high speeds.
  
  Stability defects and rollovers - this happens when the vehicle has too high a center of gravity, resulting in the vehicle rolling over during foreseeable driving maneuvers, such as swerving to avoid a deer, oncoming vehicle or pedestrian. This defect is commonly associated with taller vehicles such as sport-utility vehicles and 15-passenger vans.

There is also a doctrine in the law known as crashworthiness. The law recognizes that the car crashes are a foreseeable occurrence and places a burden on car makers to protect drivers and passengers of cars against the injuries which result. When the vehicle is designed in such a manner that it fails to protect the occupant against injury, the manufacturer may be held liable for the injuries or death. Crashworthiness case have been prosecuted against car makers for defects based upon:0

• Air bag deployment - when air bags fail to deploy when called for, or deploy when not needed, this can form the basis of a case;
  
• Door latch and tailgate latch failure - when a collision occurs, the doors and tailgate to a vehicle must stay closed to keep the driver and passengers inside the vehicle. When the doors open and the occupant of the vehicle is ejected, this may form the basis of a case;
  
• Seat belt - when the seat belt latch gives way or there is excessive slack in the belt so that the occupant is not restrained adequately, this can form the basis of a case;
  
• Seat back failure - In rear-end collisions, seat backs may collapse to the rear with the front seat passengers being propelled into the back seat. This can result in severe injuries to the back seat passenger. Further, the front seat passengers frequently suffer brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and/or death from striking their head while being propelled backward inside the vehicle;
  
• Roof crush - in rollover accidents, the roof should stay intact and not intrude into the passenger compartment. When this happens, occupants are subject to brain and spinal cord injuries;
  
• Fuel fed fires - all of the components of the gas tank, including the tank itself and the filler spout should be designed to keep gas inside the tank in the event of a crash and the vehicle itself should be designed to keep fire out of the passenger compartment;
  
• Window glazing - many passenger vehicles are put on the market without shatter-resistant window glazing, even though it has been available for years. This kind of window glazing helps keep vehicle occupants and their body parts inside the vehicle in the event of a crash.

In case where an infant is seriously injured in a car crash, parents should be careful to preserve the car seat to look into a products liability case against the car seat manufacturer.

The Law Offices of
Barry G. Doyle, P.C.
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Skokie, IL 60077
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