Orange County Personal Injury Lawyer - Automobile Defects

Ford SUVs Recalled for Fire Hazard

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:04:22 GMT

Ford Motor Corporation announced an automobile recall of approximately 1,500 SUVs. The recall includes: 2008 Explorers, Explorer Sport Tracks and Mercury Mountaineer Sport Utility Vehicles that are equipped with 4.6 liter engines and 6R transmissions due to a fire hazard.

A bolt that is used to secure the oil cooler line fittings within the transmissions may not have been properly tightened before leaving the Ford assembly plant. If the bolt were to loosen, the transmission cooler lines can leak fluid on to the vehicle's catalytic converter which poses a fire risk to consumers.

Consumers are advised to contact a local Ford dealer who will inspect the transmission cooler lines and tighten them properly.

For more information on this subject and other defective products please visit our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Nissan Recalling Infinity QX4s and Pathfinders for Fire Hazard

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:36:13 GMT

Nissan announced an automobile recall of about 372,350 Pathfinders and Infinity QX4 SUVS that will begin in November.

The recall affects 22 states that experience heavy snowfall that demands high concentrations of salt to help clear roads. On some of the recalled vehicles, the fuel filler tube was not properly coated to resist corrosion and surface rust may result on the tube.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that when combined with heavy concentrations of road salt in the winter, a mixture of snow, water and salt could contact the bare metal of the fuel filler tube causing corrosion and perforating the tube.

"In this case" NHTSA warned, "fuel leakage may occur when filling the tank. Fuel leakages in the presence of an ignition source could result in a fire," according to the federal safety regulators.

Nissan and Infinity dealers will begin recalling vehicles in November and will replace the fuel filler tube with a new tube and an improved coating process.

States included in the recall are: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Volkswagen Recalling 2003 Audi A4 and A6

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:56:48 GMT

Volkswagen of America has announced an automobile recall that will begin September 28, 2007.

The recall includes 34,358, 2003 Audi A4 and Audi A6 vehicles that are equipped with 1.8 liter turbo, 1.8 liter V6 and 3.0 liter engines.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the fuel pump on the recalled vehicles can fail cutting off the fuel supply which can result in the engine stalling. The NHTSA warns an engine stall can "present a potential crash risk."

Audi dealers will install a new fuel pump free of charge. Owners may contact Volkswagen of American at 1-800-222-8987 or Audi at 1-800-822-2834.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

A Defective Tire? An Unstable SUV? Defective Seat Belts?

IB Contributor — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:14:54 GMT

What to do now?

Here is another one of those tire blowout, SUV rollover accidents with people ejected stories that may need a much closer look by the attorneys for the people involved.

According to a story reported on Sun-Herald.com an Isuzu Rodeo SUV blew a tire, flipped over and three people were ejected on I-75 in North Port, Florida, last Friday. The driver, Petr Jakoubek, 39, was extricated from the vehicle by North Port Fire Rescue. The three passengers, Jarka Jakoubek, 35, Michael Jakoubek, 16, and Petr Jakoubek Jr., 5, who was not in a child seat, were ejected, according to the report.

This is the type of accident that the Jakubek family will need to employ a personal law firm that are experts in "auto defects". An "auto defect" law firm representing this family, would immediately secure the Isuzu Rodeo and the blown tire as its primary pieces of evidence. The evidence would then be kept in a secure facility that ensures that the vehicle will be free from tampering or weathering. Early collection of evidence is crucial.

Next they will have their scene investigators inspect, measure and photograph the accident scene. As good as the Florida Highway Patrol is, they may not have had the time or manpower to do the type scene investigation that a team of accident reconstruction investigators would. This is critical.

Then a team of experts would go over the Rodeo and the tire looking for defects and component failures.

Was the tire defective? Did a defect in the tire cause the accident? There have been hundreds of lawsuits against tire manufacturers claiming that a defect in a tire caused an auto accident, seriously injuring and killing people. This may be one of them.

Most everyone knows that SUVs are more prone to rollover in an accident than regular passenger cars. The experts will be looking into the rollover propensity of the Rodeo when a tire blows. Was the Rodeo unreasonable unstable, such that the occurrence of a common event, blowing a tire, would cause it to roll?

Another area of inspection, why were passengers ejected. Were there failures in the seat belt systems or was there a failure to employ seat belts. Many times experts can determine if the seat belts were in use at the time of an accident even though people are ejected.

It takes a meticulous and high tech inspection of the evidence, the roadway, the vehicle, the vehicle's components and the injuries to the occupants, to formulate reliable expert opinions as to what happened and why.

Was there a failure of a child seat? The experts can usually tell. And if there was, the child seat maker can expect to hear from the family's attorneys.

Let's all keep the Jakoubek family in our prayers.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by IB Contributor

Nissan Altimas Recalled for Fire Hazard

Chrissie Cole — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:31:50 GMT

More than 140,500 Nissan Altima sedans are being recalled for an auto defect in the air filter that could catch fire if they come in contact with hot objects.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) they launched an investigation after four compartment fires in February and March.

The recall involves 2007 Altimas with four-cylinder, 2.5-liter engines produced between September 2006 and May 2007 at Nissan's Smyrna plant and between October 2006 and May 2007 at its Canton, Mississippi, plant.

Nissan is sending recall letters to consumers and will fix the defect free of charge.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Nitro Recall

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:39:13 GMT

Daimler Chrysler is recalling 80,894 -- 2007 Jeep Wranglers and Dodge Nitro vehicles to reprogram an automotive defect in the power module, after receiving multiple consumer complaints about power loss to the engine.

The recall was announced following an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in May, after they received complaints of engine stalls on 2007 Jeep Wranglers.

Chrysler said the recall involves reprogramming the "Totally Integrated Power Module to eliminate potential of a brief interruption of electrical power to the instrument cluster and engine."

Chrysler will begin notifying customers later this week.

The NHTSA has received over 180 complaints of engine stalling in the Wrangler and Nitro vehicles. One accident has been reported, no one was injured.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Chrysler Recalls 400,000 Minivans

Christina Cole — Fri, 11 May 2007 23:06:54 GMT

Chrysler has recalled over 400,000 - 2005 Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans for defective airbags that may not deploy on impact due to corrosion on the sensors.

Chrysler will be notifying customers of the auto defect and fixing all the faulty air bags. The recall affects only vehicles that were sold or registered in those states that use large amounts of road salt.

Approximately 270,000 of the recalled vehicles are covered by the recall campaign and the other 133,000 vehicles with extended warranties are included, Chrysler said.

Chrysler told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that brass brushings on the sensors could potentially corrode and crack on the front air bags allowing water to enter the sensor which would prevent the airbag from deploying properly on impact.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Bentley Recall

Christina Cole — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:12:40 GMT

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is ordering a recall of 222 Bentley Arnage R, RL land T luxury automobiles due to an auto defect that may cause the wheels to fall off.

According to the NHTSA, "on certain automobiles, the road wheel fixing bolts might be dimensionally incorrect. There is a risk of the bolts loosening."

The NHTSA further warns that loose dimensionally incorrect fixing bolts can lead to the road wheel detaching from the hub, increasing the risk of accident.

Bentley dealers will be replacing all wheel bolts free of charge on the recalled vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Government to mandate anti-rollover technology

IB Contributor — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:44:09 GMT

The federal government plans to issue requirements next month that new vehicles include anti-rollover technology, officials said Thursday, according to a news report in the Los Angeles Times Friday.

Nicole Nason, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told a congressional budget panel that electronic stability control technology would be mandated on all new passenger vehicles by 2011. NHTSA estimates that the technology may save 5,000 to 9,600 lives a year once it is fully deployed, which could take more than 10 years after the rules are implemented.

Anti-rollover technologies are said to be the answer to rollover accidents that account for one-third of all fatalities. More than 43,000 traffic fatalities in the Unites States are related to rollover crashes, the article states.

"Crash-avoidance technologies like [electronic stability control] are just the beginning of what we hope is a new era in highway safety, where many crashes and the pain and suffering from those crashes are prevented outright," Nason said.

Electronic stability control senses when a driver may lose control of the vehicle and automatically applies brakes to individual wheels to help make it stable and avoid a rollover. Many automobiles, including sport utility vehicles, already have the technology, and several automakers have announced plans to include the technology. Some safety groups have said the proposed rule, first announced last year, would not deploy the technology into new vehicles fast enough and did not require the most stringent performance standards.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an organization supported by consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies, wrote in November that the traffic safety administration had proposed a minimal standard for stability control that accommodated all existing electronic stability control systems while taking into account higher safety benefits from superior systems to reach its estimated reduction of deaths and injuries.

But Ronald Medford, NHTSA's associate administrator, said Thursday that the technology was continuing to improve and the number of lives saved could be better than projections indicated. Nason said the agency was looking more seriously at requiring seat belts on commercial buses and planned to seek comments on the issue. Five Ohio college baseball players were killed in a March 2 bus crash in Atlanta, along with the driver and his wife.

Why ten years? Why not three or five? Won't we save twice as many lives that way?

Why not a heightened, rather than a watered down safety standard. Is NHTSA afraid to impose high standards? Is their mandate to protect the motor public or the profits of automakers? Do I sound like I have an attitude about this? Your right!

OK, NHTSA, now where are our improved roof strength standards? Are you waiting for the auto industry to tell you what the standards should be or are you setting your own?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by IB Contributor

Mother files lawsuit over faulty SUV tire that caused fatal crash

IB Contributor — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:16:13 GMT

The mother of Palm Beach Central High School student last week filed suit against Ford Motor Co., Continental Tire North America and Wayne Akers Ford stemming from a Columbia County rollover automobile accident last summer that killed her 17-year-old, according to a news report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Brianna Cox and her family were traveling south on Interstate 75 on July 16, heading home from a softball tournament in Alabama, when their 2001 Ford Expedition rolled several times just outside Lake City. According to the attorney who filed the suit, the right rear tire separated from the rim, causing Cox's stepfather, Bill Gaidosh, to lose control of the SUV.

This is the same set of facts we have seen over and over again, a Ford Expedition rolls over after a tire failure and the roof caves in and kills or paralyzes the occupant on the trailing side of the roll. I can't even tell you how many of these accidents there have been, it's in the hundreds. Each of these tire, rollover, roof crush cases are different, yet they are all the same. This one is not different, it ends the same but the mechanism of injury is unique.

The article stated that as the car rolled repeatedly, a pillar that connects the roof to the mid-section of the vehicle crushed inward, shredding Cox's seat belt. She was ejected from the SUV and died from her injuries. Her mother, Barbara Gaidosh, suffered broken bones and other injuries in the crash. Briana's stepfather and half-sister had minor injuries.

The "shredding" of the seat belt, I haven't seen before in this vehicle in this accident sequence. I have seen shredded seat belts and a hundred ejections but not like this. This will take a talented legal team including biomechanical experts and accident re=constructionists to put this case on. Ford has a number of experts that will testify that what happened wasn't Ford's fault and they have no responsibility.

The lawsuit alleges defective tire and vehicle design. Wayne Akers Ford is named as a defendant because it sold the purportedly defective Eddie Bauer edition Expedition in 2001, according to Smith.

"It's a tragedy of the worst kind and an irony of the worst kind that they were driving on a defective tire and occupants in a defective vehicle," the plaintiff's attorney said. "It's a worst-case scenario and a worst-case result."

He said Ford is facing similar lawsuits in other states. Ford's roof structure integrity has been compromised in rollover accidents, which means, it crushes inward toward the occupant compartment, the attorney explained.

The performance or the lack of it, when it comes to rollover crashes with Ford's SUVs - be it Explorer, Expedition or Excursion - is well-known. Brian and I have been after Ford Motor Co. in dozens of lawsuits were we allege failures in their stability and handling, restraint systems and roof systems that have led to catastrophic injuries to our clients.

Of course, this particular product liability lawsuit is with reference to tires, but Ford SUVs are notorious for poor roof strength in rollover crashes. We're in the process of crash testing Ford Excursions and the results have been dramatic and scary. Our testing has shown that the roof on the Excursion is so weak that it gets flattened even in a moderate rollover accident.

If you've been serious injured by a defective product, contact me. I'll disuses it with you..

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by IB Contributor