Product Liability Law Blog

Honda has just recalled its 2001 Honda Civic, as part of an expansion of an earlier recall involving defective driver's side air bags. This 10-year-old model is the same one that college student Kristy Williams was in on April 2010 when while stopped at a traffic light the vehicle's frontal air bags suddenly deployed, sending razor sharp metal pieces into the left side of her neck as the driver's side air bag exploded.

Williams' carotid artery was cut and she began losing a great deal of blood. She also broke her left arm. She then spent two weeks in the ICU where she suffered from seizures and a heart attack while undergoing multiple surgeries.

Williams' Georgia auto products liability attorney has said that Honda should have recalled the 2001 Honda Civic sooner and that this could have prevented the college student from getting hurt. Honda has settled Williams' Georgia air bag defect lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. However, Williams has been left with a six-inch scar on her neck and because of her injury she will no longer be able to become a police officer.

Honda announced its expanded recall earlier this month--its fifth one over the same defect since 2008. 20 car accidents and 2 deaths related to this air bag safety issue have been reported in the US since 2009.

The automaker explained that should the driver's side air bag go off with too much force, its metal inflator casing could rupture. Seeing as the casing holds an explosive propellant, the metal from the casing could turn into shrapnel pieces and fly into the driver.

The autos named in this month's Honda air bag defect recall include the:
• Honda Civic ('01,'02,'03 models)
• Acura 3.2 CL ('03 model)
• Honda Accord (certain '01 and '02 models)
• Acura 3.2 TL ('02 and '03 models)
• Honda Odyssey ("01, '02, '03 models)
• Honda CR-V ('02 and '03 models)

Air bags are supposed to be designed to protect passengers, not cause them serious injury. For an air bag to deploy at the wrong time and without warning can prove extremely catastrophic and even fatal.

Serious air bag injuries can include traumatic brain injury, neck injuries, chest injuries, impact injuries, shrapnel injuries, hearing loss, blindness, thoracic trauma, burn injuries, lacerations, arm fractures, leg fractures, and abrasions.

How Honda's faulty air bags maimed a Georgia student, USA Today, December 20, 2011

Honda Recalls 304,000 Cars Globally Over Air Bag Concerns, ABC News, December 2, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Air Bag Defect Prompts Honda to Recall another 273,000 Autos, Product Liability Law Blog, November 30, 2011

Serious Airbag Defect Leads Honda to Recall 440,000 More Civics, Accords, and Acura TL's, Product Liability Law Blog, July 31, 2009

Texas Auto Products Liability: Air Bag Defect Lawsuit Seeks Damages from GM, Product Liability Law Blog, May 10, 2011

Continue reading "Recently Recalled Honda Civic Blamed in Georgia Air Bag Defect Lawsuit " »

Ford Motor Co. and a woman who was paralyzed in a 2005 SUV accident involving a defective rear seat latch have reached a confidential auto products liability settlement. The agreement came just after a civil jury awarded Lynn Wheeler $16,444,761 in compensatory damages against Ford and as jury members were getting ready to impose punitive damages.

Wheeler sustained catastrophic spinal cord injuries during a seatback collapse when a car driven by John C. Stanley struck the 2002 Ford Explorer she was a passenger. Wheeler, who was riding in the middle of the backseat of the SUV in between two of her grandchildren, was propelled forward into the vehicle's center console and the back of the front seat. Meantime, the back seat collapsed over her after the rear seat latch broke.

Her Georgia auto products liability lawsuit accused Ford of designing a rear seat latch that was defective, disregarding safety test results showing that the center lap seat belt wasn't safe, and, as a cost cutting measure, waiting to install a shoulder restraint for the SUV's middle seat. A law passed in 2002, but which didn't go into effect until 2007, now prevents car manufacturers from making vehicles with lap-only seat belts for the rear middle seat.

Wheeler, who is now a quadriplegic, has to use a ventilator and is a confined to a wheelchair. She has three children, nine grandchildren, and has been married to her husband for over 40 years.

The civil jury also held driver John C. Stanley, who was 19 at the time of the head-on crash, liable for $1,271,640 in damages.

Seat Back Defects
Defective seat backs can prove catastrophic for passengers in the event that the seat collapses during an auto accident. Common seat back injuries include spinal cord injuries, which can occur when the rear seat collapses forward and crushes passengers while pushing them into the back of the front seats, and chest and head injuries, which are more likely to occur when the front seat collapses backwards. Children, including those seated in child safety seats, are especially at risk of sustaining fatal injuries during a car crash where a seatback collapse is involved.

Clayton jury returns $17 million verdict, MyCountryPaper, December 26, 2009

Seat failures and occupant restraints, SafetyForum

Related Web Resources:
Ford Motor Co.

NHTSA