There’s a distinct duty of care car manufacturers owe their customers. The fact is cars are extremely powerful devices that be the catalyst for a great deal of damage and injury or worse. Car owners have the right to expect their vehicles are not putting them and their passengers in danger due to defective parts or poor manufacturing. Typically, when a manufacturing defect does indeed occur, it is not made known until it has already caused a car accident.
Manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure their cars are produced in alignment with national vehicle safety standards. Any time manufacturers fall short of that standard, they risk causing an accident and a great deal of harm. When this occurs, personal injury law provides for relief by way of product liability damages.
(Never Say This at an Accident Scene)
Product liability claims resulting from a vehicle accident can emanate from three different kinds of defects:
Design Defect
With defective design, there is typically a problem with the way the vehicle or a vehicle component was designed. That could be something as simple as a rear-view mirror that easily slips down and causes an accident by obscuring the driver’s view while backing up. Car manufacturers utilize thousands of parts from all over the globe, and all it takes is one defect to affect the car’s functioning in a way that makes it unsafe.
If an accident occurs and you suspect a product defect to be at fault, either you or an experienced personal injury attorney can engage an expert that can reveal the presence of a design defect and point to a safer alternative manufacturing solution that was available at the time of production.
Manufacturing Defect
Here the problem lies with the way in which the part was actually made. This could include parts made with cheap materials or parts that were not inspected appropriately or a lack in quality control.
Warning Defect
When there is a defect in the warning element of a product’s manufacture, it really involves just how much or how well a manufacturer warned consumers about the underlying risks in use of the product. So a vehicle that is excessively risky because of its propensity for speed, let’s say, might really require a great deal of specific warning to the consumer about this feature, this in addition to standard warnings that must accompany motor vehicles.
Product liability damages can compensate when any of these kinds of defects are determined to have caused an accident and resulting injuries. Without a manufacturer recall to identify such defects, however, it may be difficult pinpointing that a vehicle defect is indeed the culprit. That’s why it’s important to consult with an experience personal injury attorney like those at Bizzieri Law Offices. We have extensive experience with product liability law and have a strong track record of success in winning large damage awards for our clients in these kinds of claims. Call us today at 773.881.9000 if you’d like to receive a free case review. We can help!