How Litigation has improved the safety and design of Cars
We are all aware of the recall of Toyota motor cars last year because of a design fault on the accelerator pedal. There were a number of car accidents prior to the recall which has cost Toyota Millions in liability payments, not to mention the terrible loss of face and market share. Hitherto Toyota had been regarded as bullet proof and fairly faultless.
If you saw the movie “Class Action” which concerned litigation around a design fault is a particular, fictitious, auto model and the attempt by the unscrupulous manufacturer and his attorneys to cover it up then you will have seen a small demonstration of just how Civil Litigation can ensure that cars and car design may be improved by such an action. An Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles is in a position to take such an action for his clients should it be justified.
Below are a number of places where civil litigation has directly led to car design being altered to improve safety.
Gas tanks had been installed underneath the car and there were a number of leaks, fires and explosions, even from relatively minor collisions. This led to litigation. As a result Gas tanks are now located in a steel frame and are hard to penetrate.
Seat belts similarly were introduced but initially many had defective or inferior designs. This was slow taking off and it was many years before the wearing of seatbelts became compulsory. Chrysler installed a seat belts in over 14Million cars which was known to unlatch in an accident. Litigation forced the redesign of seatbelts.
Tires are an area where litigation has greatly improved the safety of design. Despite all manufacturers trying to cover up problems, it has been shown that over 270 deaths were a direct result of defective Firestone Tires. Litigation forced the changes and nowadays tire manufacturers and carefully watched.
Roof and sides were originally not particularly designed to be impact resistant. Roofs were shown to collapse if a car rolled and a police officer ended up paralyzed by a low speed side on collision. Litigation has forced manufacturers to improve the strength of both of the roof and the sides of the cars they manufacture.
The replacement of the “rocker” switch for power windows by the lift up style was brought about by lawsuits over children’s deaths because it was too easy to operate. The solution was easy and inexpensive but it was only brought about because some manufacturers were taken to court.
There are a number of other items, like airbags where the technology has existed for a long time but the manufacturers, despite knowing that cars would be safer with airbags resisted installing them. The Courts eventually forced airbags to be fitted to all cars.
If you are driving a car which has an accident due to a suspected defect, either from new or after maintenance then you would be well advised to contact an Accident Attorney in Los Angeles who is in a position to investigate the complaint and if justified enter a suit against the appropriate party.
Source What would cars be like without the Civil Justice System