Product Liability Law Blog

A tragic treadmill accident this week claimed the life of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter Exodus On Monday, her 7-year-old brother found her with the cord that hangs from a treadmill console wrapped around her neck. Following the strangulation accident, Exodus's mother tried to revive her with CPR while waiting for the paramedics to arrive at their home. The girl was then taken to a local hospital where she was placed on life support. Exodus died on Tuesday morning.

Treadmill Accidents
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that every year, at least 2,600 kids are hurt in treadmill accidents end up in US emergency rooms. In Philadelphia alone, 12 children were injured in treadmill accidents in 2001—six of those injuries involved kids getting their hands stuck in the exercise machine’s belt. Their injuries were serious enough to require plastic surgery so they could open up their hands.

There also have been reports that hard edges, moving parts, and the programmed speeds of a treadmill can cause unexpected injuries to people. Researchers say that modifying treadmill designs, such as making the exercise machine harder to start and easier to stop, could prevent some of these accidents from happening.

The CPSC says that the treadmill is not the only kind of exercise equipment that has been known to cause injury to kids. Also:

• About 25,000 children under the age of 14 are injured on exercise equipment every year.
• Some 8,700 of these accidents involve kids younger than 5.
• Stationary bikes and stair climbers are two other kinds of exercise equipment that have been known to cause injuries to children.
• Amputations and fractures make up 20% of injuries to minors caused by exercise equipment.

While there are safety precautions that parents can take to protect their kids from getting hurt on a treadmill or another kind of exercise equipment, it is still up to the equipment manufacturer to make sure that their products do not have any design defects or manufacturing flaws that could cause cause injury or death if the equipment malfunctions. Warning of any potential hazards that may arise must be included with the product when it is delivered to the consumer.

Tyson's Tragedy Shows Treadmill Danger, ABC News, May 27, 2009

Kids and treadmills: a bad combination, TampaBay.com, May 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Exercise (And Children On Exercise Machines), UAB Health Systems

CPSC

Continue reading " Treadmill Accident: Mike Tyson’s Daughter Dies After Her Neck Gets Caught in Exercise Machine Cord " »

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Posted In: Furniture and Accessories , Household Appliances , Injuries to Children & Minors

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With summer fast approaching, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has revealed its latest figures on child drowning injuries and deaths in pools and spas. According to the CPSC, almost 300 children under age 5 drown in spas and pools annually, while 3,000 young kids sustain injuries that require emergency medical attention. Also:

• 2/3rds of the victims killed or injured in pools and spas are toddlers, ages 1-2.
• 80% of drowning deaths take place in residential settings.
• Between 1999 to 2008, 69 injuries and 11 deaths occurred due to spa and pool entrapment accidents.

Last December, the Federal Pool and Spa Safety Act went into effect. The new law makes it a requirement for all public spas and pools to install drains that prevent drain entrapment accidents from happening. The drains are arched and designed to prevent a person’s hair or another body part from getting suctioned into the drain.

In 2007, 6-year-old Abigail Taylor sustained a catastrophic injury when the drain of the wading pool she was in suctioned out a portion of her intestinal tract. She had to undergo transplants of the small bowel, pancreas, and liver and could only be fed through an intravenous tube. She died from her pool drain injuries last March.

The new pool spa and safety act is also known as the Virginia Graham Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The law is named after former Secretary of State James Baker’s granddaughter. Virginia was just 7 when she drowned after getting caught in a spa’s suction. Unfortunately, there are pools and spas in the US that have yet to install these new drains because they have not been easily available.

There are also the dangers that pools and spas can pose because the owner failed to surround the pool or hottub with a protective barrier designed to prevent children from getting into the water unsupervised or to provide proper supervision or adequate safety measures for when people are in the pool or spa.

When you think about the fact that a child can easily drown in as little as two inches of water, our personal injury law firm, known for our work with injuries to children and minors cases, cannot do enough to emphasize the importance of making sure that the proper safety precautions are in place to prevent tragic drowning deaths. Even a near-drowning accident can prove catastrophic, with many children that survive forced to live with permanent brain damage.

CPSC Announces New Report on Child Drownings and Near-Drownings in Pools and Spas, CPSC, May 21, 2009

Pool drains pose risk to swimmers, NewsChannelKTIV, May 13, 2009

Girl Whose Intestines Were Partially Sucked Out by Swimming Pool Drain Dies, Fox News, March 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool Spa and Safety Act (PDF)

Keep an Eye on your Kids, Drowning is Preventable!, WestCov.org

Continue reading " CPSC: Almost 300 US Children Under Age 5 Drown in Pools and Spas Each Year " »

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Posted In: Injuries to Children & Minors , Swimming Pools

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The Obama Administration’s recent unveiling of a new fuel economy and emissions initiative is raising some issues of concern over whether the proposed changes will compromise auto safety. If finalized, the initiative would establish a fuel economy standard of 35.5 mph by 2016. Vehicle categories covered under this joint rulemaking put forth by the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency include sport utility vehicles, passenger cars, pickup trucks, and minivans—autos that account for nearly 60% of greenhouse gas emissions.

In a USA Today article, former Office of Management and Budget rulemaking chief John Graham expressed concern that automakers, already financially strapped, might have to compromise safety in order to meet the initiative’s deadlines and, for example, make smaller, less safe cars. This solution could have huge ramifications on people's lives.

Recent studies conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that bigger and heavier cars still have the advantage over their smaller vehicle counterparts when it comes to protecting vehicle occupants during an auto crash. If safety is compromised in any way, there is concern that this could reverse the decline in the number of motor vehicle deaths that the US has experienced recently. Last year's US traffic death rate is expected to be even lower than 2007's traffic death rate.

White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Director Carol Browner disagrees with these concerns and says that car makers can use new technologies to meet the new fuel standards. Many environmentalists agree with the Obama Administration and say that car makers will merely have to create better vehicle designs and use lighter materials to make their autos.

However, these new approaches could cost more money that currently is in such short supply among even the biggest players in the auto industry that the government has had to provide financial assistance. Just this week, the Obama Administration announced a $7.5 billion bailout to GMAC, which is the auto lender to Chrysler and GMC. This is in addition to the $6 billion that GMAC already received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Meantime, the federal government has had to take the costs of auto safety into account. For example, the Bush Administration delayed the release of new federal standards mandating stronger car roofs that can withstand more weight during an auto crash over concern that they would be too expensive for car makers to implement. The tougher roof standards were finally announced last month.

Auto Products Liability
Vehicle occupant safety must remain a primary priority for car makers when they are designing and manufacturing their motor vehicles. If your injuries or your loved one’s death was the result of an auto defect, you should speak with our auto products liability law firm today.

Safety could suffer if we boost mileage by making cars smaller, USA Today, May 20, 2009

Notice of Upcoming Joint Rulemaking to Establish Vehicle GHG Emissions and CAFE Standards, NHTSA, May 19, 2009

New Emissions Changes May Not Be Safe, KIMA TV, May 21, 2009

Another $7.5 billion bailout for GMAC, CNN.com, May 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
IIHS Crash Tests Reveal that Bigger and Heavier Motor Vehicles Exhibit Greater Occupant Protection During Auto Collisions

Read the Notice of Intent for the Rulemaking, NHTSA (PDF)

Continue reading " Auto Products Liability: Will New Fuel Economy Standard Compromise Vehicle Safety? " »

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability

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According to the US Department of Transportation, each year 22,372 serious injuries and 1,652 traffic deaths could be prevented by the use of seat belts, which reportedly saved 15,147 lives in 2007, if seat belt use rates in each use state was at 90%. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood calls safety belt use the “most effective traffic safety device every invented.”

To show people how serious safety and transportation officials throughout the US are about promoting the use of safety belts, the “Click It or Ticket” campaign will take place this year from May 18 – 31. Over 10,000 police agencies are expected to patrol the streets to catch and cite people that are caught not using seat belts when riding in motor vehicles.

Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration National Occupant Protection Use Survey reports that the seat belt use rate for 2008 was 83%. However, one out of every five Americans still does not buckle up.

Teens are an age group of special concern. 2,502 of the 4,540 16-20 year old auto occupant victims that died in 2007 were not using seatbelts. 65% of the teen drivers that died in nighttime car accidents that year were not using seat belts.

Defective Seat Belts
In order for seat belt use to save lives and prevent serious injuries, the safety belt must be free from defects so that it works properly. Unfortunately, seat belt defects do occur and car makers have been known to recall vehicles because of defective safety belts. Also, injury victims and the surviving families of those who have died because a seat belt malfunctioned or had a defect have sought products liability and wrongful death recovery from the negligent manufacturers.

Recently, a woman who became paralyzed in a 2006 Colorado rollover accident was awarded a $4.23 million seatbelt defect judgment against Ford Co. Erica Hoffman’s auto products liability lawsuit contended that the seat belt was faulty and that it came unlatched during the auto accident.

A Colorado jury awarded Hoffman $18 million, assigning 25% of the liability to Ford. She also settled with TRW Automotive Safety Systems Inc, the company that made the seat belt, as well as the driver of the 1999 Ford Mercury Cougar Coupe that was involved in her rollover accident.

Car makers and seat belt manufacturers must be held liable for negligence when they make and install safety belts that are defective. Vehicle occupants rely on safety belts to keep them secure in the event of a motor vehicle crash. A seat belt that doesn’t work properly can cause a vehicle occupant to hit his or her head against the windows or roof of a car. He or she can also get thrown out of the vehicle. A person whose seat belt unlatches during an auto accident could end up with a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, or massive internal injuries that might otherwise have been prevented.

New Study: Higher Seat Belt Use Could Save Many Lives, NHTSA, May 14, 2009

Woman wins $4.23 million from Ford in lawsuit, Examiner.com, May 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Click it or Ticket, NHTSA

Seat Belt Use in 2008 - Use Rates in the States and Territories (PDF)

Continue reading " Nationwide “Click It or Ticket” Campaign A Reminder of How Seat Belts—When Defect-Free—Can Save Lives " »

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Colorado , Defective Seatbelt and Restraint System Cases , Seat Belts , States

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A California family is suing Toyota for wrongful death. The Benson family contends that the car manufacturer failed to properly notify them that the steering relay rod in their motor vehicle was defective and, as a result, their 18-month-old toddler died in an auto crash.

The deadly California car accident occurred on Christmas Eve in 1997 when the steering relay rod, which connects the two wheels, broke and Cindi Benson lost control of the vehicle. The Toyota went off the road and hit a tree. Lilian Benson died from her injuries on Christmas day. Her siblings, Frank Benson, then 4, and Laquita Benson, then 7, sustained injuries.

This is not the first auto products liability lawsuit to be filed against Toyota over a defective steering relay rod. Earlier this year, the parents of Levi Stewart sued the car maker for failing to issue a recall in the 90’s over the faulty auto part. A recall was eventually issued the following decade but only at first in Japan.

Stewart, 18, died on September 15, 2007 when the steering relay rod of his Toyota pickup truck broke and he lost control of the vehicle. Friends who were in the truck with him sustained serious injuries. Stewart's father, Mike Stewart, did not receive a notice from Toyota that the 1991 truck may have contained a defective part until three month's after his son's death.

Toyota issued its recall of the defective steering relay rod in the US in 2005. A letter sent that year by Toyota’s North American subsidiary to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted that there could be 977,839 motor vehicles affected by the defective auto part, including the:

• Toyota 4Runner, 1989 to 1995 models
• Toyota Truck, 1989 to 1995 models
• Toyota T100, 1993 to 1998 models

The Benson family’s California wrongful death attorney says that only about 30% of the cars had been repaired a year and a half after the recall was announced and not everyone was properly notified about the recall. Usually, a repair of approximately 70% of the vehicles that are part of a recall is considered the pass/fail rate.

Other auto products liability lawsuits have been filed by families in Louisiana and Kentucky.

Humboldt family says faulty Toyota car part resulted in baby's death, Times-Standard, May 11, 2009

Idaho family sues after son dies in recalled Toyota, KTVB, March 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Auto Recalls, Justia

Toyota

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , California , Idaho , Kentucky , Louisiana , Toyota Safety Issues , Wrongful Death

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To increase occupant protection during rollover accidents, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is instituting new roof safety standards for light vehicles and heavier vehicles that will result in dramatically stronger vehicle roof structures. Under the new standard, light vehicles weighing up to 6,000 pounds will have to withstand a force of three times the vehicle’s weight. This is a significant increase from the current standard that requires a vehicle to withstand 1.5 times the vehicle weight applied to one side of the roof. Heavier vehicles, weighing from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds, will now have an actual roof safety standards they will have to meet. Their roofs will have to withstand a force equivalent to 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight. The phase-in period will start in September 2012 and must be completed for all vehicles within these weight ranges by the 2017 model year.

While this new standard should increase passenger protection during rollover crashes, the NHTSA is quick to point out that strengthening vehicles’ roofs is only one solution to preventing rollover deaths. About 10,000 people are killed in the US each year in rollover crashes, and roof strength was a factor in only 667 of those deaths. The NHTSA estimates that the new roof safety standards will prevent another 135 rollover fatalities from occurring each year.

There are other safety measures that auto makers can implement to prevent rollover accidents. The NHTSA says electronic stability control (ESC) can reduce rollover deaths by anywhere from 4,200 to 5,500 fatalities each year. Safety belts is another effective countermeasure that the NHTSA says saves lives during rollover crashes—reducing deaths by 80% in light trucks and 74% in passenger cars. According to studies, an ejected vehicle occupant has a three times greater chance of dying than a vehicle occupant who manages to stay in the vehicle during an auto accident. Use of seat belts is one way to keep occupants securely fastened in their vehicles.

It is up to vehicle manufacturers to make sure that they meet federal safety standards and that they install safety device that are free from defects and in proper working condition in the autos that they sell. When failure to make vehicles and auto parts that are free from defects results in personal injury or wrongful death, the auto maker and other liable parties may be held liable for products liability.

Proving negligence in a rollover accident can be tough—especially in rollover collisions involving just one vehicle. This is why you need to work with rollover accident attorneys who have the experience, skills, and resources to successfully pursue your financial recovery.

U.S. DOT Doubles Roof Strength Standard for Light Vehicles, NHTSA, April 30, 2009

Read the Final Rule (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Roof Strength and Injury Risk, IIHS (PDF)

Safercar.gov

Continue reading " Federal Government Improves Rollover Protection by Doubling New Roof Safety Standard for Light Vehicles and Introducing Standards for Heavier Autos " »

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

Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Sport Utility Vehicle Rollovers

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