defective auto parts

Published on: June 23, 2015

Defective Takata Airbags Now Linked to 105 Injuries, Six Deaths

A committee that is currently investigating car recalls linked to defective Takata airbags says that the Japanese auto parts supplier recently decided to update recall information. The updated toll from the airbags defect is now 105 injuries and 6 fatalities.

The earlier toll was 64 injuries and five fatalities linked to the malfunctioning airbag. However, since then, Takata has apparently identified at least 40 more incidents of malfunctioning airbags resulting in serious injuries, including one that resulted in at least one death.

The defect causes the airbags to shoot off potentially dangerous fragments that can seriously injure occupants in the vehicle. Occupants are at risk of serious injuries, including eye injuries, facial injuries and other injuries as a result of being hit in the face by these pieces of shrapnel.

Published on: November 17, 2014

Air Bag Recalls Continue to Expand

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As we mentioned in a post back in September, 2014 has been a record year for auto recalls. And the year isn’t over yet. Approximately 14.3 million automobiles from ten different manufacturers have now been recalled for faulty air bags manufactured by Takata.

The air bags, which were installed in vehicles from 2000-2011, may explode when they inflate. The force of the explosion may shatter the air bag container, sending metal and plastic shrapnel into the driver and passenger. The problem has been linked to propellant chemicals in the air bag, and may be aggravated in high-humidity climates. As a result, there have been more widespread recalls in high-humidity areas, including Georgia. So far there have been five fatalities and over 100 injures attributed to the defective air bags. The most recent death, which sparked a new wave of recalls, was of a pregnant woman in Malaysia.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging owners of the affected vehicles, which include cars by Honda, Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, to act on the recalls. Car owners that have been contacted by their cars’ manufacturers should make repair arrangements with local dealerships. Consumers who have not been contacted and are concerned that their vehicles may be affected can check by their vehicle identification number (VIN) here.

Published on: September 1, 2014

What to Do If Your Car Is Recalled

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

2014 is turning out to be a record year for recalls. Millions of cars already have been recalled this year, most of them from the General Motors. Fresh data released by Carfax confirms that as many as 36% of all recalled cars on American roads are not repaired.

In fact, last year, the auto industry recalled more cars than it sold. In 2013, recalls were up by approximately 25%, which is the highest increase on record since 2004. One of General Motors largest recalls this year, involving more than 2.6 million vehicles, was for a defective ignition switch that has already been linked to 13 fatalities. Clearly, car recalls are not always linked to defects that are inconveniences to customers, but possibly serious defects that could actually cause car accidents involving injuries and death.

Who is to blame for this poor response to recalls? According to Carfax, there are currently at least 36 million recalled cars being operated by motorists in the United States. In many cases, people are completely unaware of the recalls, while in the remaining cases, the people have been informed of the recall, but chose not to respond anyway.

Published on: November 18, 2011

More Than 300,000 Harley Motorcycles Recalled Due to Brake Light Failure – Product Liability Claims likely

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Harley-Davidson Inc. is announcing a recall of more than 308,000 motorcycles.The recall is being blamed on a potential brake light failure problem. These types of product defects can pose a significant risk to riders, greatly increasing the likelihood of motorcycle accident. Drivers often have trouble seeing motorcycles and, therefore, an inoperative brake light will make it even more difficult for them to observe a motorcycle stopping. Unfortunately, motorcycle accidents often result in severe personal injury and wrongful death.

According to the company, the brake light switches on its motorcycles can be exposed to excessive heat from the exhaust system, causing the brake lights to fail.This failure can cause a fluid leak, as well as the loss of the rear braking system. The loss of the rear braking system is likely to result in product liability claims since they are highly likely to cause a serious injury or death. Atlanta motorcycle accident lawyers have regularly encouraged riders to get their bikes regularly checked, but this is the type of issue that could not have been identified through regular maintenance absence a warning from the manufacturer.

According to the company, the Touring, CEO and Trike motorcycles are included in the recall.These motorcycles are from the 2009 to 2012 model years.The motorcycles were manufactured between June 2008 and September 2011.The company has already begun the process of notifying all Harley motorcycle owners about the recall.Owners of Harley motorcycles that are included in this recall are advised to visit their dealers for installation of a new rear brake light switch kit.The recall involves approximately 241,000 motorcycles in the United States, with the remainder in other countries.

Published on: June 20, 2011

Used Car Buyers in Atlanta Face Auto Accident Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

People who buy used cars in Atlanta may be at risk of a car accident when they purchase recalled cars, but have not been informed of the recall.Loopholes in federal policies allow used-car dealers to sell recalled cars without making buyers aware of this information.In fact, federal policies are so lax that they don’t even require automobile manufacturers to inform used-car dealers about a recall.Manufacturers are only required to inform their franchise dealers about recalled vehicles.

Besides, even if used-car dealers and franchise dealers are made aware of any recall information, they are not required to fix these cars before they’re sold.As a car accident lawyer, the Government Accountability Office report which indicates the serious dangers facing people who unknowingly buy defective used cars is a call to action.

What should be even more shocking to Atlanta buyers is that these car dealers are not even required to inform consumers about the recall before these cars are sold.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not even have the authority to order dealers to make repairs to the recalled cars, or inform consumers about the recalls before they sell the cars.

Published on: April 24, 2011

Missing Airbags in Used Cars in Atlanta Pose Hidden Injury Risks Of Injury

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the most frequent cause of airbag injuries in an accident is not late deployment or early deployment, but failure to deploy.In many cases, airbags fail to deploy because they’ve not been replaced after the car was involved in a previous crash.What is even more worrying to Atlanta car accident lawyers is that there is currently little information about the number of used cars out there that do not have airbag systems.To prevent injuries, we need to develop a system to identify such cars before they are involved in an auto accident.

There have been several cases involving repair shops that charged for replacing of airbags after the vehicle was involved in an accident and then failed to replace the systems.One such repair shop was even sued by a couple whose son was killed in an accident.The couple had paid the repair shop to install airbags on its used vehicle, and after the accident, it was found that the airbags had been stuffed with paper.

For a repair shop, replacing an airbag system would cost between $1,000 and $3,000. In the absence of any regulations of these shops, there have been many cases where owners of used vehicles drove their car out of the repair shop, believing that their car was safe.Data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that over five years, at least 51 fatal accidents could be traced to missing airbags in cars.These airbags failed to deploy because they had never been replaced after a previous accident.

Published on: March 20, 2011

Untested Car Safety Seats Could Cause Injuries in Atlanta Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The role of car safety seats in preventing injuries to children in an auto accident is one that no Atlanta injury lawyer would deny.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 1988 and 1994, the use of car seats led to a 73% drop in infant wrongful deaths and a 54% drop in car accident related injuries in children between the age of one and four.However, not all car safety seats may have been tested and approved to be safe for your child.

The Washington Post warns parents against assuming that the car seat that they’re using for their child will protect them from injuries in the event of an accident.The seats that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates are only tested for protection in a front impact collision.The seats are not regulated against side-impact, rear end or rollover accidents.This is in spite of the fact that the risk of injuries and fatalities is often much higher in a rollover accident or a side-impact accident than a front impact collision.

One of the reasons why the federal agency has failed to regulate the effectiveness of car seats in these kinds of accidents is the lack of proper-sized crash test dummies.That is also the reason why the agency has failed to regulate the safety of large-sized car seats that are used for toddlers above 65 pounds.There’s a growing class of overweight children who are too heavy for infant car seats, and too young for seat belts.Car seat manufacturers have been marketing larger-sized car seats for children of this size, but the NHTSA has failed to regulate the effectiveness of these seats.One of the reasons has been the failure to develop a crash test dummy of an appropriate size.

Published on: March 10, 2011

Spotlight on Burn Injury Risks from Defective Car Seat Heaters

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

During some of the freezing winter days that Atlanta personal injury lawyers and residents suffered over the past few months, cars with seat heaters seemed akin to a blessing from above.However, there are serious burn injury risks linked to the car seat heaters found in many popular auto models.The burn injury risk is especially significant for the disabled and physically challenged persons. Car accidents may happen, but this is a preventable injury.

In fact, just about every other auto manufacturer has, at some point, recalled car seat heaters for malfunctioning.However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has never found the need to act on incidents where the car seat heaters have heated to levels beyond human tolerance.Now, a group of safety advocates has asked the federal administration to look closer at defective and malfunctioning car seat heaters that have caused serious burn injuries.

The risk of burn injuries from defective car seat heaters is the highest among the disabled and physically challenged.These people may have limited or no sensation in their lower limbs, which means that when a car seat heater heats up to dangerously high levels, the person only finds out that he’s being burnt when it is too late.Some of these people have ended up with third-degree burns.Currently, there are no federal standards in place for car seat heaters, and that has meant consumers are using seat heaters that are not required to meet any safety standards.Very often, car seat heaters do not come with a switch on/off mechanism that allows a person to switch off the heater when it is warming up to intolerable levels.

Published on: May 27, 2010

Child Injured in Atlanta Power Window Accident Recovers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A 21-month-old toddler, who sustained serious injuries when she was caught in a car power window, is recovering from injuries. The accident occurred last Friday when the child was alone in the family car with her three-year-old brother. The child’s neck became trapped in the power window when it suddenly became activated. She was initially unresponsive, and had to be rushed to the Barrow Regional Medical Center, and later to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She is now expected to make a full recovery.

Fortunately, this horrible incident is like to have a happy ending. Injuries from activated power windows are not exactly unheard of. According to the NHTSA, every year, approximately 6 children die from power window accidents, and close to 2,000 children are injured.

Last year, Kidsandcars.org had conducted a survey that showed that power window accidents and injuries may be far more common than the NHTSA believes. The surveyors asked participants about whether they had ever caused injuries to anyone by activating a power window. Up to 6% of the participants admitted that they had indeed injured another person by activating a power window. According to Kidsandcars.org, when you translate those statistics into the general population in the United States, it works out to approximately 13.6 million power window-related injuries every year.

Published on: April 6, 2010

NASA Investigates Toyota Defects

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The investigation into the causes of acceleration in Toyota vehicles has taken a unexpected turn, with the Obama administration this week announcing that it was bringing in NASA scientists to help with the investigation.

There has speculation for quite a few weeks now that the causes for the acceleration go beyond floor mats or gas pedals. Space radiation experts have put forward the theory that modern vehicles with the massive amount of electronic circuitry they have on board, could be at risk from interference from space radiation. The effects of such radiation on consumer goods like cell phones and computers, have been known for a while now. These space radiation experts believe that Toyota cars, which come with massive amounts of electronics, could be at special risk for interference from cosmic rays. The announcement that the Toyota probe will now include NASA scientists has lent credence to those theories.

The Obama administration has also asked the National Academy of Sciences undertake a separate study into computer technologies in vehicles. This study will last for 15 months. The study is expected to look into the potential of computer malfunctioning and electromagnetic interference as factors in acceleration in these vehicles.