Motor Vehicle Defect Injury?
Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC Car Accident Lawyers Can Hold the Car Company Responsible
A variety of factors can cause motor vehicle accidents, and one prevalent cause is defective vehicles or defective vehicle parts. When a company designs or manufactures a vehicle or a vehicle component part, it has a duty to design or manufacture its product carefully and safely, using proper testing procedures and following governmental regulations. If a car or truck has a design or manufacturing defect, the results can be dangerous and deadly. The Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC car accident attorneys at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot, L.L.P. have provided the following information to educate you about car and truck defects.
Design Defects
If a company designs a product and that design is inherently dangerous or useless, the design is defective. For example, a defectively designed seatbelt might unlatch because of the way the designers shaped the latch plate or the buckle, rather than the way the manufacturer put the parts together. Product designers are responsible for the injuries the products cause if the product failed because of a design defect.
Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect is a defect in the manner in which the manufacturer builds a vehicle or a component part. If the manufacturer performs shoddy work, improperly assembles parts or incorrectly installs parts, the vehicle can malfunction and cause an accident. Manufacturers are also responsible for the injuries their defective manufacturing causes. For example, if your seatbelt breaks during a collision because the manufacturer carelessly made or installed the seatbelt, you could have a cause of action against the manufacturer for your injuries.
Car and Part Recalls
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is a U.S. government agency under the Department of Transportation, enforces safety standards for motor vehicles to protect consumers. If NHTSA determines that a vehicle or one of its component parts is defective, it can issue a recall, which means the manufacturers must either fix the defect or take the vehicle back. NHTSA can issue vehicle recalls for two reasons:
- If the vehicle’s design or manufacture violates any Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
- If the vehicle or any of its component parts has a safety-related defect
If a manufacturer fails to comply with a recall and you suffer an injury in a truck or car wreck because of the recall defect, or if the recall occurs to late, you may have a cause of action. To find out more information about vehicle and component part recalls, visit NHTSA’s online resource center.
Result of Defects
Defects in design or manufacture can lead to:
- Vehicle rollovers
- Partial ejections because of glazing defects
- Tire blowouts
- Airbags that do not deploy
- Airbags that deploy incorrectly
- Broken seatbelts
- Seatbelts that come unlatched
- Windshield wiper that stop working
- Seatbacks that do not absorb impact properly
These incidents can lead to serious and sometimes fatal car accidents. If you or a family member has suffered an injury in a truck or auto accident because of a vehicle or part defect, contacting a Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC car accident lawyer right away is important. Car defect lawsuits can not only get you compensation to help you recover from your injuries, but they also change the way automobile and component part designers and manufacturers do their jobs. The dedicated attorneys at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot, L.L.P. can help you recover for your losses and hold the car company responsible for its defective work, preventing future accidents. Contact us today for a free consultation.