Product Liability Law Blog

The US Department of Transportation says that it is designing a consumer program to help parents and others select the child car seats that are the best fit for their motor vehicles. The new program will involve auto manufacturers recommending which child car safety seats should go with each vehicle. This initiative will go into effect at the start of the 2011 model year.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has also mandated that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put together a new side impact safety standard for child safety seats. While the current standard mandating that a child car seat be able to withstand forces more severe than 99.5% of real-time crashes is effective, LaHood wants the NHTSA to improve the standards even more.

Car safety seat and child traffic accident facts:
• 1/3rd of all highway fatalities involving kids younger than 13 occur during side impact crashes.
• 50% of kids under age 8 killed in auto accidents were not using child safety seats.

The NHTSA task force charged with assessing current child safety regulations is recommending that research be conducted on ways to improve the current child safety seat standard for frontal impact crashes.

Some steps that you can take to make sure you are buying a good car seat:
• Check to make sure that the seat is compatible with the LATCH system, which allows you to securely and easily fasten your seat to many cars and trucks.

• Make sure the seat comes with side impact protection.

• Buy a car seat with a 5-point safety harness.

However, just because one child safety seat performs well in one car doesn’t mean it will fit properly in another vehicle—even if the seat is considered one of the “best” and “safest” in the marketplace. The DOT's new consumer program will help clear up a lot of confusion for parents who may not know whether a child seat is the right fit for their specific vehicles.

Child Safety and Auto Safety
Car makers and the manufacturers of child car seats are obligated to make sure that they manufacture products that are free from defects that could lead to personal injury or wrongful death. Product defects resulting in serious injury accidents can be grounds for a products liability lawsuit.

Child safety seats: Transportation chief pushes reform measures for vehicle manufacturers, Chicago Tribune, April 25, 2009

U.S. DOT Announces New Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats, NHTSA, April 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
How to Choose the Best Child Safety Car Seat, InfoBarrel.com

Top 10 Cars for Kids in Car Seats, Edmunds.com

Continue reading " New US Department of Transportation Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats Will Help Parents Choose the Products that Best Fits Their Cars " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

Bookmark:

Government investigators and bus safety advocates want the federal government to come up with stronger safety regulations for the US commercial bus industry. The call came at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing this week when investigators announced that speeding was the cause of a deadly 2008 bus accident in Utah.

At the hearing, federal investigators said speeding and driver fatigue were the likely causes of the deadly January 6, 2008 bus crash that occurred in the Utah town of Mexican Hat in the Four Corners area. The bus driver, age 71, was probably driving somewhere between 88 and 92 miles per hour and experiencing altitude sickness along with a head cold when the deadly crash happened. He also may have been suffering from sleep apnea. The bus, which was transporting 56 people who had been on a Colorado ski trip, moved toward the guardrail before falling off an embankment. The roof of the bus was sheared off and the majority of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle. 9 people died, while 43 others sustained injuries, some of which were severe.

The investigators chastised the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminsitration for its failure to execute safety recommendations from 1999 when the NTSB called for stronger motor coach roofs—a safey measure that could have saved the lives of people killed in the Utah crash. The NTSB had also recommended seat belts and windows that are easy-to-open that could have prevented certain catastrophic injuries and saved many lives over the past 10 years. Now investigators are saying that it's time to make these necessary changes as well as improve its medical oversight of bus drivers who may be suffering from certain health issues, such as sleep apnea.

Another way to improve bus safety is to implement stability-control technology that could decrease the number of rollover bus accidents—the leading cause of bus accident deaths. Safety advocates also point out that making bus owners comply with tougher safety regulations would make bus travel a lot safer.

Cheaper bus prices, more convenient bus connections, and a troubled airline industry has resulted in more people traveling on buses. Some 750 million bus passengers travel in over 34,000 commercial buses in the US and Canada annually.

Motor Coach Bus Accident Facts
Between 2000 and 2007, there were over 57,000 motor coach crashes that claimed the lives of 401 people. In the past eight months alone, there have been catastrophic rollover bus accidents in California, Arizona, and Missouri that have killed 25 people. About 30 to 50 people die in US bus collisions every year.

Any kind of motor vehicle defect is a dangerous defect and one that can cause injuries and deaths. It is the obligation of commercial bus manufacturers to make sure that there are no defects or deficiencies in the design of a bus that could allow for serious injuries or deaths to occur. Federal and state safety departments must also make sure that they have safety regulations that force bus makers to comply with stricter safety standards.

If you have been injured in a bus accident caused by driver negligence, you may have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. You also may have grounds for a products liability lawsuit if deficient design or a defective bus part was a contributing factor in causing the bus accident.

Bus Safety Rules Are Long Overdue, Board Says, Washington Post, April 22, 2009

Bus Crash Hearing Brings Calls for Stronger Safety Regulation, PeterGreenberg.com, April 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Transportation Safety Board

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading " Bus Safety Advocates Call For Better Federal Safety Regulations to Minimize Injuries and Deaths on Commercial Buses " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Arizona , Automotive Product Liability , California , Colorado , Missouri , Utah

Bookmark:

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, extra vehicle weight and size add up to more occupant protection during auto collisions. This means that people who choose to buy smaller cars because they are more economical in terms of price and gas usage could be compromising personal safety.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted three front-to-front crash tests. A minicar or microcar and a midsize vehicle from the same automaker were used for each test. Pairs used were 2009 models from Honda, Daimler, and Toyota—all auto brands with minis and micros that received good frontal crashworthiness ratings.

While the Smart Fortwo, the Honda Fit, and the Toyota Yaris performed well in the frontal offset barrier test, they all performed poorly during frontal collisions with midsize cars—in these instances, the Mercedes Class C, the Honda Accord, and the Toyota Camry. During all three tests, the smaller cars didn’t do as well as the midsized vehicles, with dummies in the smaller vehicles exhibiting a greater likelihood of injury.

The greater the difference in weight between the two vehicles, the higher the risk of injury for the occupants of the smaller cars. The longer the vehicle size, including the length of distance from the front of the motor vehicle to the compartment where occupants would be seated, the lower the force of impact on the people in the longer vehicle.

According to 2007 crash statistics, the fatality rate for 1- to 3-year-old minicars during multi-vehicle collisions is nearly two times higher than the fatality rate for bigger cars. For midsized cars, the death rate during single-vehicle collisions was 17% lower than for minicars.

Nearly 50% of all crash fatalities during single vehicle collisions occurred in minicars. While there is the claim that minicars are easier to drive, which can reportedly help drivers avoid getting involved in an auto accident, insurance data reveals otherwise, with four times more crash damage claims filed for mini-4-door vehicles than for midsize cars.

There are, of course, people who believe that small cars and mini cars are as safe as their bigger counterparts. And while these smaller vehicles now have more safety features, such as airbags and electronic stability control, bigger cars still have the greater advantage when it comes to occupant protection and safety.

The IIHS has brought up the interesting point that establishing lower speed limits will save gas and improve safety. In 1974, thousands of barrels of fuel, as well as thousands of lives were saved when the country had a national maximum speed limit of 55 mph. Highway fatalities dropped 20% from 55,511 in 1973 to 46,402 in 1974.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. While auto accidents do happen because of driver error or negligence, there are steps that auto manufacturers can take to maximize occupant safety and save lives.

Failure to manufacture or design vehicles that will keep passengers and drivers safe can be grounds for an automotive products liability lawsuit if the car maker could have or should have done more to make the vehicle involved in a car accident safer so that injuries or deaths could have been prevented.

New crash tests demonstrate the influence of vehicle size and weight on safety in crashes; results are relevant to fuel economy policies, IIHS.org, April 14, 2009

Car Size and Weight are Crucial, Status Report (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
1974: New speed limit to curb fuel use, BBC

Cap U.S. Speed Limit At 55 Mph To Save Gas, CBS, July 7, 2008

Continue reading " IIHS Crash Tests Reveal that Bigger and Heavier Motor Vehicles Exhibit Greater Occupant Protection During Auto Collisions " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Motor Vehicle Safety

Bookmark:

Already this month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of three nursery products. The recalls are an effort to prevent potentially catastrophic accidents from causing injury to or killing young kids.

On April 2, the CPSC, with the cooperation of SunTech Enterprises, let the public know that about 1,900 convertible cribs were being recalled and any returns would lead to full refunds. The danger they are trying to remove is one that could lead to suffocation or entrapment.

The expanding mesh material that make up the crib sides may create a gap between the mattress and the side of the crib. This could make it easy for a young child to fall into the gap and suffocate or become entrapped. Also, the crib’s drop side, if not fully latched, can drop down unexpectedly, creating a fall hazard. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. A five-month-old baby, however, did die last August from entrapment and suffocation in a nearly identical crib manufactured by the same company.

Just last week, the CPSC, along with Healthtex, announced that it was recalling about 40,000 Zoo Pacifiers because they failed to meet federal safety standards and are a choking hazard because the nipples can come off the base too easily. No injuries have been reported.

Also last week, Simplicity, along with the CPSC, announced the recall of about 25,000 Travel Tender Play Yards. An injury accident could result if even one of the rails collapses without warning, creating an entrapment hazard or a fall danger. To date, there have been at least five incidents involving a collapsed rail. No injuries have been reported.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
• In 2005, nearly 60,000 kids younger than age five were seen in US emergency rooms for injuries involving nursery products.
• Falls are the leading cause of nursery-related injuries.
• From 2001 to 2003, there were 182 nursery-related deaths.
• In 2006, nursery products caused injury to about 66,400 kids.

Simplicity Play Yards Recalled by Various Retailers Due to Fall and Entrapment Hazards, CPSC, April 7, 2009

Pacifiers Recalled by Healthtex Due to Choking Hazard, CPSC, April 7, 2009

SunKids Convertible Cribs Recalled by Suntech Enterprises Due to Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards, CPSC, April 2, 2009

Nursery Product-Related Injuries and Deaths to Children Under Age 5, United States Consumer Product Safety Commission

Related Web Resources:
Nursery-related product injuries on the rise, CNN, February 28, 2008

Products Liability News, Justia

Continue reading " Recent Nursery Products Recalls of Play Yards, Pacifiers, and Cribs are Issued to Prevent Entrapment, Suffocation, Choking, and Fall Accidents " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Nursery Products

Bookmark:

The parents of a 4-year-old boy are suing Crocs Inc. for products liability involving injuries to a minor. The boy almost lost his toe during an escalator accident at the Miami International Airport last month. The $6 million Florida personal injury lawsuit accuses the rubber clog maker of failing to warn that a person wearing Crocs risks injury in the event that the clog were to ever get caught in a moving staircase conveyor.

The boy, age 4, now has to use a wheelchair while he recovers from his injuries. According to Marisela and Sanjay Prakash’s personal injury attorney, the 4-year-old’s toe was crushed to the bone. The couple’s products liability lawsuit contends that the clog maker has known about hundreds of incidents involving kids who have been hurt after their Crocs got stuck in escalators yet the company still has not added warning labels to the shoes.

While Crocs has published a news release announcing that warning labels will be include with the popular shoe products beginning Spring 2009, no start date is listed.

Other personal injury lawsuits against Crocs involving injuries to young children have included:

• A father filed a $2 million against Crocs for personal injury last year after his 4-year-old son’s foot was maimed while riding an escalator at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.

• A dad in New York sued Crocs for $7 million after his 3-year-old daughter sustained permanent and severe injuries when her clog got stuck in a La Guardia Airport escalator.

While Crocs are marketed as all-purpose footwear, Kathleen Huddy of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute says the shoes are best worn by the pool or at the beach. She said Crocs shouldn’t be used at the mall, in amusement parks, or on an escalator. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says it has received numerous reports from consumers complaining of the footwear getting caught in escalators.

Product manufacturers must warn of any hazards associated with the use or wear of their items. When failure to warn of a hazard or to fix it causes personal injury or wrongful death, the product maker can be held liable for products liability.

Crocs sued after boy's foot stuck in Miami International Airport escalator, Sun-Sentinel.com, April 4, 2009

New Lawsuit Could Take Bite Out Of Crocs, CBS News, September 11, 2008

N.Y. man files $7M lawsuit against Crocs, Business Journal, February 8, 2008

Crocs and similar soft shoes linked to escalator entrapments, ConsumerReports.org, May 20, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Crocs

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Clothing , Injuries to Children & Minors

Bookmark:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is announcing that Evenflo is recalling over 700,000 high chairs. The product manufacturer is concerned that faulty screws on the chairs could pose a choking or fall hazard for children.

Approximately 643,000 Evenflo Envision High Chairs and 90,000 Majestic High Chairs are being recalled. The Majestic recall is an expansion of an earlier recall of some 90,000 Evenflo chairs involving metal screws and plastic caps on both sides of the chairs coming loose and fall out, posing a choking hazard or a fall hazard to children if the seatbacks fell backward, reclined, or came off. The expanded recall includes additional models that reportedly have exhibited the same problems.

At the time of the Majestic recall last December, there were more than 1,000 reported incidents of the screws or caps coming out of the chairs, as well as over 140 reports of the seatbacks falling back, reclining, or coming off. There were more than 90 reports of injuries, including bruises to the head, broken bones, cuts, and abrasions. There were also incidents reported involving kids who would take the fallen screws or plastic caps and placed them in their mouths.

As for the Evenflo Envision chairs, there have been over 300 reports of the seatbacks reclining suddenly or detaching, which could result in fall accidents. There have also been reports of the screws coming out of the chairs, posing a choking hazard. 35 reports mentioned bruises, abrasions and other injuries, as well as one incident where a child was holding onto a screw but fortunately did not choke.

Just last month, Fisher-Price announced its own high chair recall. The danger that the seat could fall back or the booster seat detach while the child was in the chair prompted the manufacturer to recall approximately 24,000 3-in-1 High Chair to Booster. One child reportedly sustained a skull fracture after falling when the seat back detached.

High Chair Injuries
According to a 2001 Pediatric News article, most high chair injuries happen to kids younger than age one who fall from the chairs. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission says that from 1994 to 1998 there were about 40,650 high chair-related injuries that resulted in hospital emergency visits. Head injuries and facial injuries were among the most common kinds of injuries, with 94% of injuries involving fall accidents.

If your child was injured because of a defective high chair or another poorly designed infant product, you may be entitled to products liability compensation.

Injuries Prompt Evenflo High Chair Recall, WebMD, April 2, 2009

Evenflo Recalls Envision™ High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards, CPSC.gov, April 2, 2009

Evenflo Expands Recall of Majestic™ High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards, CPSC.gov, April 2, 2009

Evenflo Recalls Majestic™ High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards, CPSC.gov, December 18, 2008

Fisher-Price Recalls 3-in-1 High Chairs Due to Fall Hazard, CPSC.gov, March 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Infant Furniture Safety Guide, American Academy of Pediatrics

Safety and Your Baby's High Chair, About.com

Continue reading " Evenflo and CPSC Recall Over 700,000 High Chairs Because Faulty Screws Could Pose a Choking or a Fall Hazard " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors

Bookmark: