Product Liability Law Blog

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that car manufacturers recalled 16.4 million vehicles last year. While there were less recall campaigns overall—492 recall campaigns in 2009 compared to 684 campaigns in 2008, automakers recalled 6 million more autos last year.

Toyota led the car manufacturer list with most vehicles recalled. The car manufacturer’s reputation for passenger safety took a beating after four people were killed when its floor mat on the driver's side jammed a 2009 Lexus ES 350’s gas pedal, causing the vehicle to accelerate to over 100 mph before crashing. Following the fatal car wreck, the Toyota announced a recall involving 4.26 million vehicles—its largest recall ever—to fix acceleration problems. In total, Toyota announced 9 campaigns and recalled 4.87 million autos last year.

Among the other automakers that recalled vehicles in 2009:

• Ford Motor Co.: 8 campaigns that recalled 4.5 million vehicles.

• General Motors Co.: 16 campaigns and 2.2 million autos recalled.

• Honda Motor Co.: 4 campaigns and 454,000 motor vehicles. Honda was the only auto manufacturer to see a drop in the number of vehicles it recalled in 2009 compared to the year before. The car manufacturer recalled 797,000 autos in 2008.

• Chrysler Group LLC: 15 campaigns and 59,000 vehicles.

• Nissan Motor Co.’s Kia Unit: 8 campaigns and 1.3 million autos.

• Volkswagen AG: 8 campaigns and 100,000 recalled autos.

While recalling a vehicle to fix a particular defect is a positive step toward preventing injuries and deaths, car manufacturers should not be designing, making, and selling vehicles that have any type of vehicle defect to begin with. Auto defects are not minor glitches that can be easily fixed. There are lives at stake whenever someone gets in a car that can potentially malfunction because a specific part was defective or poorly manufactured.

Do NOT be intimidated by a giant car manufacturer when it comes to pursuing an auto products liability claim for personal injury or death. Our auto products liability lawyers represents clients who were seriously injured or lost loved ones in car accidents because of structural defects, faulty engines, a seat back defects, a poorly designed seat belts, weak vehicle roofs, defective tires, faulty airbags, or other flawed vehicle parts.

Auto recalls surge in '09, NHTSA says, Detroit News, January 12, 2010

Recalls, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:
Auto Recalls, Justia
Consumer Reports

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Posted In: 15-Passenger Vans , Air Bags , Automotive Product Liability , Floor Mats , Roof Crush , Seat Back Defects , Seat Belts , Sport Utility Vehicle Rollovers , Tires , Toyota Safety Issues , WIndows

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A jury has awarded a 12-year-old boy a $12 million tire tread separation verdict for injuries he sustained in a 2006 New Years Eve auto accident in Mexico. Jesus Guzman, who was 10 at the time, is now paralyzed. The tire was a Goodrich tire made by Michelin & Cie.

The deadly motor vehicle accident happened outside Matamoros when one of the tires of a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup truck failed, causing the motor vehicle to swerve head on into a Chevrolet suburban. Everyone riding the SUV died—four of the casualties were under age 14. Loved ones who were riding in the pickup truck along with Guzman were injured.

According to the defective tire lawsuit involving injuries to a child, leaking roofs and broken air conditioners at a Michelin plant caused the tire maker’s machines to make defective tires that could likely fail. By issuing its $11.96 million verdict against Michelin for Guzman's spinal cord injury, the Texas jury rejected the tire manufacturer’s claim that the Ford truck’s bumper had scraped off the top of the tire.

Tire Tread Separation
The treads of a tire (especially steel-belted radial tires) can become separated. Because the steel does not properly adhere to the tire, driving at high speeds or hot weather can cause the separation to happen. Tire tread separation is linked to design and manufacturing defects.

Tire tread separation can lead to tire blowouts that can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and drive off the road, into oncoming traffic, or roll over. SUV’s are especially prone to rollover crashes during a tire blowout.

The fallout from being involved in an auto accident caused by tire tread separation can be catastrophic.

Just last week, the six members of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir were hurt during a van rollover crash that was caused by what investigators believe was tire failure. Head trauma and broken bones were some of the injuries that the victims sustained.

Auto crashes that are a result of tire defects, including tire failure, tire tread separation, tire blowouts, and tire/rim explosions are preventable. This is one reason that a tire maker should be held liable for auto products liability. Car crashes can be deadly, which is why it is a tire manufacturer’s responsibility to make sure that their tires are free from defects that could cause a deadly motor vehicle accident.

Michelin Tire Tread Separation Lawsuit Results in $12M Verdict, AboutLawsuits, September 21, 2009

Michelin Loses $12 Million Verdict in Suit Over Crash, Bloomberg.com, September 10, 2009

Chicago's Scotland Yard Gospel Choir injured in van accident, Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Tires, NHTSA

Consumer Reports

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Spinal Cord Injuries , States , Texas , Tires

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The Arizona Court of Appeals says that a local woman who was hurt and lost her mother and daughter in a Mexico car accident can sue Continental Tire North America in the state of Arizona. Attorneys for the tire company wanted the auto products liability lawsuit to be argued in Mexico where the rollover accident happened.

Court documents state that the car accident victim, Maria Pozo Parra, was driving her motor vehicle in Yuma County when the tread in one of her tires separated. Pozo Parra then lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over. She and three other passengers were ejected from the auto. They all sustained injuries. Pozo Parra's mother and one of her daughters were killed in the rollover accident. She is suing the tire maker and the dealer that she bought the tire from for products liability.

As part of their argument that the case be tried abroad, the defendants claimed that the Arizona tire defects lawsuit had a “tenuous” connection to the state. The tire dealer is based in Arizona.

A judge in Maricopa County Superior Court agreed with the defendants and tossed out the Arizona defective tire lawsuit. Appellate Judge Diane Johnsen, however, said that the defendants' arguments could not overcome Arizona law, which lets plaintiffs decide where they want to file their civil claims.

Tire Tread Separation
Tire tread separation can lead to tire blowouts, which can cause a motorist to lose control of the vehicle. This can result in deadly rollover accidents and other kinds of auto collisions. A tire blow out can be especially dangerous when the vehicle is traveling at high speeds or if the auto, such as many sport utility vehicles, has a high gravity center.

Defective design or manufacturing defects are two common causes of tire tread separation. Examples of common tire design defects:

• Insufficient nylon overlays
• Deficient skim stock

Some causes of tire manufacturing defects:

• Poor adhesion or bonding of tire components
• Poor quality control

Yuma tire lawsuit OK'd for Arizona, Yuma Sun, August 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Parra V. Continental Tire

Tire Defects, Safercar.gov

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Posted In: Arizona , States , Tires , Wrongful Death

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According to a federal appeals court, a Utah auto products liability lawsuit over a 2005 15-passenger van rollover accident that killed eight Utah State University students and one instructor and seriously injured two other students can proceed. The 15-passenger van complaint was filed in district court last year—but Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the remaining defendant in the wrongful death case, had tried to get the case thrown out.

The tire company, which made the tires that were on the van, had expressed concern that certain information needed for the case would have exposed company secrets. The appeals court, however, says the plaintiffs are entitled to know how the tires were manufactured.

The students and their agriculture instructor were coming back to school after visiting a farm during a field trip when the deadly crash happened. The 15-passenger van rolled over a number of times after one of the tires blew out. The plaintiffs’ wrongful death complaint accuses Cooper Tire of knowing that the tire was defective yet failing to remedy the tire's defects.

The families of the victims that died settled their products liability complaint against Chrysler more than a year ago. The plaintiffs had accused the auto manufacturer of making a van with an unsafe gravity center, defective tires, and unsafe seat belts.

15-Passenger Vans
15-passenger vans have long been known for their high rollover risk because of the way they are designed. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an advisory warning all 15-passenger van users to exercise the necessary safety precautions to prevent a rollover accident from happening. Recommendations include:

• Check tires for wear and tear, and make sure that they are properly inflated. Tires that are not fully inflated on a 15-passenger van is a common cause of rollover accidents, especially when the van is fully loaded.
• Ensure that everyone in the van is using a seat belt.
• Do not drive the van unless you are properly trained to operate this type of vehicle.

The NHTSA says that 15-passenger vans carrying 10 or more passengers have a rollover risk that is almost three times greater than vans carrying less than 5 passengers. This means that using a 15-passenger van the way that it was intended—to carry 15 passengers—places vehicle occupants at risk of getting injured in a rollover crash.

Cooper Tire told to supply information, UPI.com, June 10, 2009

Appeals court gets USU van lawsuit rolling again, The Salt Lake Tribune, June 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Fatalities to Occupants of 15-Passenger Vans, 2003 - 2007 (PDF)

15-Passenger Vans, IIHS

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Posted In: 15-Passenger Vans , Automotive Product Liability , Tires , Utah , Wrongful Death

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun its own preliminary probe into over one million Ford trucks and cars following reports that faulty tire valve stems were causing tires to leak air. Ford Motor Company, which conducted its own investigation, says that the tire valve stems do not pose a safety risk. Safety advocates, however, claim that the potential danger of sudden tire air loss should mandate a recall. In a letter to NHTSA, auto safety researcher Sean Kane, who called for the investigation into Ford’s tire valve stems, warned that drivers and tire repair shops would be unlikely to notice the defects.

The NHTSA’s investigation involves 1,050,000 2007 Ford vehicles, including the Ford F-150, Edge, Mustang, Milan, Fusion, MKZ, Mercury Grand Marquis, MKX, Explorer, Expedition, Escape, and Focus. The agency says that they have 37 complaints involving Ford motor vehicles with faulty valve stems.

23 complaints involved autos with more than one defective tire valve stem. 11 reports involved cases where an air leak caused tire damage. A valve stem is supposed to keep the air in a tire. Topseal Automotive, a subsidiary of Chinese company Shanghai Baolong, made the valve stems that are under investigation.

In May, the NHTSA began another investigation into 23 million Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corp. replacement valve stems that were made in 2006. The agency found 4,767 complaints involving these replacement stems. One complaint reported a deadly auto accident involving a 1998 Ford Explorer that experienced tire failure.

Last month, the NHTSA upgraded that probe into what it calls “Engineering Analysis.” This means that if the analysis investigation finds that the replacement valve stems, imported by Dill Air Controls Products, are defective, some 23.5 million replacement tire valves that were installed between August 2006 and July 2007 may be recalled.

Topseal Automotive told NHTSA that the replacement valve stems lacked proper protection from ozone damage, which can cause the stem bases to crack after 8 to 14 months of use and lead to air loss, tire failure or tire blowouts. Topseal supplies eight million tire valve stems each month to Ford and other car manufacturers around the world.

Ford spokesperson Wes Sherwood maintains that even though they purchased the valve stems from Topseal, the stems they use on their cars and trucks are not made from the same material that the replacement valve stems are made with. Sherwood also says that the valve stems used on Ford vehicles are made with different equipment.

Tire blowouts can lead to serious injury accidents, including vehicle rollovers, multi-vehicle collisions, and accidents involving pedestrians. You may be entitled to compensation from an auto manufacturer or tire maker if you were injured in a motor vehicle accident involving a defective tire.

Feds probe Ford tire leaks, Detroit Free Press, October 22, 2008

NHTSA steps up investigation of tire valves … but not enough, Consumer Reports, October 3, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corporation

Ford Motor Company

Continue reading "Federal Auto Safety Regulators Investigate More Than One Million Ford Cars and Trucks for Tire Leaks" »

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Tires

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cautioned motorists that hot summer weather, defective tires, and motor vehicles overloaded with vacationers and cargo make up a deadly combination that can lead to serious auto accidents on US roads and freeways.

One reason the summer heat can create an additional hazard to motor vehicle tires—especially those that are poorly maintained and/or defective—is that the hot weather adds to the temperature buildup of the tire, which can cause the glue that holds it together to stop working until the tire falls apart. Dry air and the sun’s ultraviolet rays have also been known to drastically shorten an already under-inflated or cracked tire’s lifespan.

When a tire blows out and the driver is unable regain control of the vehicle, the car can end up taking a sharp turn or rollover that can result in serious injuries for the motorist and others. The NHTSA says that some 660 people are killed and 33,000 others are injured every year in traffic collisions caused by tire problems. The federal agency also estimates that at least 50 lives could be saved each year and up to 10,600 injuries prevented if steps were taken to properly maintain all tires and keep defective ones off US roads.

There are preventive steps that a motorist can take to properly maintain their tires during the hot summer months:

• Check the tire pressure every month and before going an a long trip.
• Check tires for excessive wear or sidewall deterioration.
• Make sure the tires are properly aligned.
• Rotate your motor vehicle's tires every 3,000-4,000 miles.

Common Causes of Tire Blowouts Include:

• Manufacturing or design defects
• Shredded tires
• Poor tire construction
• Adhesion failures

Unfortunately, tire defects are not uncommon, and some of the biggest tire manufacturers in the world, including Dunlop and Firestone, have recalled defective tires at some point in time. If your injuries occurred in an auto accident involving a defective tire, our auto products liability law firm can help you determine whether you have grounds to file a claim against the tire designer or the motor vehicle manufacturer.

NHTSA Urges Drivers To Check Their Tires During The Hot Weather, NHTSA, August 13, 2007

Desert heat boosts peril of tire blowouts, AZCentral.com, June 18, 2005

Tire Safety, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:

NHTSA

Recalls

Continue reading "Odds of Motor Vehicle Accidents Occurring Due to Tire Blowouts Increase With Rising Summer Heat" »

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Tires

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