Defective Product Lawsuits and Recalls

Defective product claims can be some of the most difficult battles to win.  The first thing a manufacturer may do is accuse you of simply not using the product properly, or that you abused or damaged the product, causing it to fail.  If the defect isn’t a design flaw or a widespread problem that results in a recall of the product, proving that it was anything but your fault can seem impossible, and you may feel lucky if you simply get a refund. 

Many people misunderstand how many things can fall under the description of “defective.”  It’s not just about something breaking or not working properly.  It may be poorly written or misleading instructions, improper instruction by a salesperson, or the lack of adequate warning labels.  With many of the products we buy being imported, many instruction manuals are translated to English from another language, and the results can be less than accurate.

Most of the time, product recalls are the result of a non-injury related encounter with the defective product, or the awareness of an employee or salesperson of the manufacturer or retailer who discovers it.  But unfortunately, as in the cases involving certain Firestone Tires or Toyota automobiles in recent years, it can take horrifying experiences, and sometimes deadly accidents for the defect to be discovered.

Products for infants and young children are closely monitored by manufacturers and many retailers for safety and potential problems, but parents should take great care as well.  Cribs are notorious for product recalls, as are a variety of toys, and even clothing.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires all children’s sleepwear over size nine be either snug fitting or flame-resistant, and labeled as such.  Toys are scrutinized over small parts that present a choking hazard, moving parts that can cause injury, as well as the materials they’re made of.  Keep a watchful eye out for product recalls on the items you buy, and inspect them closely yourself, even months down the road after the product has been “broken in,” to make sure it hasn’t become broken.  If you find something that warrants a large-scale recall on a crib, toy, or otherwise, you don’t want it to be at the expense of your child’s well being.

Medical equipment is another area for potential defects, and the results can certainly be devastating.  Our offices have been handling claims for the DePuy Hip Replacement recall, in which a design flaw on certain implant models has resulted in metal rubbing metal, causing extreme pain, difficulty in walking, and toxins released into the blood stream.

Not only can a defective product lawsuit result in compensation for medical expenses, missed work, and pain and suffering, but it can also result in getting the product off the market or the defect fixed, preventing possible pain, injury, or death to many more people. 

Keeping receipts, manuals, and other paperwork associated with the products you buy is always a good idea.  Should something go wrong, first attend to any possible injuries that may have occurred, of course… but then take pictures, gather witnesses, if any, and contact Harris Personal Injury Lawyers immediately.  Do not contact the manufacturer, or even the retailer.  If you get any response at all, it would likely be from their own legal team who will put their company’s interests ahead of yours every time.  Let us take it from there...

Harris May Personal Injury Lawyers
David Francis Law

The Decline of Fatal Accidents Since 2005

Since 1899, the Federal Government has been keeping records and statistics on motor vehicle accidents and fatalities.  A spike in traffic fatalities in the 1960’s led to the creation of the National Highway Traffic Safetly Administration (NHTSA) in 1970.  Numerous occupant and vehicle safety standards have been enacted since, and as a result, there has been a general decline of traffic deaths since 1972.  That decline has not been without peaks and valleys, but the trend continues downward.  In 2008, fatalities among young drivers (16-24) dropped to it’s lowest point since 1982.

Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), who began operating in 1975, shows the biggest factor for fatal crashes from 2005 to 2009 is Failure to keep in proper lane… nearly 30% for most of that time period.  Failure to keep in proper lane, however, is a pretty wide brush, in which many factors could cause it.  The other top five causes usually involve alcohol and/or drugs, distraction (eating, texting, talking, etc.), and speeding.  Advancing technology has brought with it the emergence of some of those newer factors, such as texting-while-driving and DVD screens built into dashboards and sun visors. 

As a rapidly growing cause of accidents in nearly every age range that‘s still very hard to prove, accurate numbers regarding texting-while-driving are hard to find, although it’s generally considered to be a leading cause in vehicle accidents today, fatal and otherwise.  A study by the Virginia Tech Tranportaion Institute showed that the average driver frequently takes their eyes off the road while texting for up to five seconds… long enough to travel the length of a football field.  Reaction times and stopping distances have also been proven to double when a driver is texting while driving.  That is way over the typical distance of a few feet added when a driver is legally drunk.  Often they’re too distracted to hit the brakes at all.

The large percentage related to the statistic of Failure to keep in proper lane could be attributed to the limited ability to determine and/or prove the cause of the driver leaving their travel lane in most accidents for many of those years.  Those percentages dropped considerably between 2008 and 2009 from over 24% to exactly 17%, accompanied by a slight increase in other causes, indicating the improved ability to identify the proper factors in a larger number of cases.

Another factor considered in accidents is the time and day they occur.  Statistically, the most dangerous time to be out driving is from midnight to 3 a.m., Saturday and Sunday mornings.  That could be considered common sense, with the common activities of drinking and otherwise on Friday and Saturday nights out.  A scary thought is to combine that with the increasing chance that some of those people who are driving after having a few drinks are also trying to text each other.  Safe practice, if driving must be done at those times, is to take roads less traveled where possible… where distance can be maintained from other vehicles and problem drivers may be more easily spotted and given a wide berth. 

The percentage of fatalities related to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over .01 remained consistent over the same period of time, toggling between 37 and 38 percent, although the numbers themselves declined from nearly 16,000 to just over 12,700, reflecting the declining number of fatal crashes overall.

Another way to look at traffic fatalities is in deaths-per-distance a vehicle travels.  The number of fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) has declined steadily from 1.46 to 1.13.  Those numbers appear small in that statistic considering how large the VMT number is.  But looking at fatalities per 100,000 population puts it in better perspective:  14.71 in 2005, down to 11.01 in 2009... That’s one death per every 9083 people on the road. 

Legislation such as minimum-drinking-age laws and testing standards have helped, but a large factor to this downward trend in traffic fatalities can be attributed to the advances that vehicle manufacturers have made in safety and technology.  Anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, airbags, and improved restraint systems (especially for children) have saved many lives.  Many of the safety improvements in passenger cars were adapted from the changes NASCAR mandated in the first couple of years following the on-track death of iconic racecar driver Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500 of February, 2001.  Improved motorcycle helmets and riding gear have increased survival chances for motorcyclists as well. 

The addition of bicycle lanes on streets across the country have helped the grim statistics of fatalities among bicycle riders.  That number as well has declined from 757 fatalities in 2005 to 600 in 2009.  The most frightening statistic for bicyclists?  There is less than a 10% chance of survival when struck from the front, as opposed to over  90% survival rate in being hit from any other direction.  The lesson there is to always ride with traffic on the proper side of the road as opposed to traveling against it on the other side.

Overall drop in traffic fatalities in the United States from 2008 to 2009 is -10%.  Connecticut showed the largest percentage at -26%, with Nevada in a close second at -25%.  The numbers involved were also close… 302 down to 223 and 324 down to 243 respectably.  In contrast, North Dakota and Rhode Island showed the worst changes in percentage, up 35% and 28%, although the numbers involved (223 up from 169 combined), were less than Connecticut or Nevada alone.