Car Defect
Davis, Bethune & Jones, LLC is highly experienced in the area of automotive product liability litigation. There are many contributors to car accidents, and one that may be overlooked is the car crashworthiness and defects in the car design and parts. If you or a loved one had a car accident, you have legal rights. Get a free legal consultation with the car defect lawyers of Davis, Bethune & Jones, LLC by calling our firm at 1-800-875-5972 or by filling out the form at the right.
Car Design Defects
Common automobile, auto & car defects and truck manufacturing defects include:
Defective air bags - failure to deploy, suffocating passengers
Door latch failure - doors can come open during collision, throwing passengers from the vehicle
Faulty fuel systems, fuel tank placement, fuel lines - cause high temperature fuel-fed fires, severe burns, and death
Rollover - SUVs and vans (including 15-passenger vans) have high rollover propensity due to difficulty in handling and maneuvering
Roof crush - when vehicles roll over (SUVs, vans), if the structure of the roof is inadequate, the roof crushes and causes head and spinal cord injuries and death
Seat design, seatbacks - may not hold passengers upright during collision
Seatbelt failure - latches can come lose, causing passengers to be ejected from the vehicle
Tire Tread Failure - tires can separate and cause loss of control over the vehicle
Wheels - may break and cause loss of control over the vehicle
Steering - components that may break suddenly and cause loss of control of vehicle
Electronic wiring - failure can cause fire or loss of lighting at night
Lift gate latches - fail to hold the rear liftgate in crashes causing passengers to be ejected through the rear in an accident
Foot Pedals - poor design and placement of floor mats can interfere with braking and accelerating
Axle failure - can lead to loss of ability to control vehicle
Steering failure - poor ability to steer car leads to loss of control of vehicle
Defects in Car Design: Government & Industry Standards
Head Restraint Safety Ratings
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has recently issued a new rating category for auto safety: head restraints. The results have surprised many, with only 22 of 75 cars tested receiving a "good" rating. Read more about headrests & neck injury within this informative page.
Safest 2007 Cars
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued their Top Safety Pick Awards for 2007 model year cars & trucks. While no US-made vehicle makes the list this year, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors are represented by their respective Swedish subsidiaries, Volvo and Saab. Japanese brands Honda and Subaru have three vehicles each on the list. Audi, the luxury division of Volkswagen, has two vehicles on the list and Mercedes-Benz, the luxury division of DaimlerChrysler, has one.
Read more about the IIHS 2007 Crash Test Results.
