Car Recalls History and Legal Help
By now, everyone has heard about all of the crashes, injuries and recalls involved with Toyota over the past year. Practically every model that Toyota has out on the market in multiple model years has been subject to a recall. The recalls involve defective braking systems, bad steering, and stuck acceleration systems.
Far from being theoretical, these defects have caused very real harm to innocent people, most notably the Saylor family, who were killed in San Diego when their Lexus suddenly accelerated, and Kuoa Fong Lee, who spent years in prison for vehicular manslaughter after the accelerator on his Toyota Camry got stuck. That resulting accident killed three people.
As long as cars are designed and built by human beings, there will always be flaws. The most important element of car defects is how responsible the car company will be when the flaw is discovered. Will they own up and initiate the recall and make the repairs, or will they try to hide the fact that the flaws exist? In the case of Toyota, it appears that they did the latter.
We would like to say that defective cars are an anomaly, or that all car recalls occur due to minor, cosmetic malfunctions that don’t affect the safety of the car, but the truth is that history is loaded with examples of automotive recalls that occurred because people were put in serious danger. Here are just a few:
In 1971, General Motors recalled over 6.7 million cars due to malfunctioning auto mounts. One of the mounts in particular caused a serious hazard to drivers, mainly because when it broke the V8 engine would shift upwards, which, similar to Toyota’s almost 40 years later, would cause the car to suddenly accelerate. The total of accidents for such a widespread problem was miraculously low (only 18 reported injuries,) but GM still recalled the cars and made the necessary fixes.
Between 1971 and 1976, Ford released a car called the Pinto, which had no reinforcement between the gas tank and bolts attached to the rear differential. In the event of a rear collision, there was a serious danger of the gas tank getting punctured and leaking. Gasoline on the ground is never a positive thing in terms of safety. Even though the recall affected 2.2 million vehicles, six people died in Pinto fires after rear impact collisions.
Ford also had issues with a transmission defect in the 1970s that allowed cars to slip into reverse while the gear was in “park.” Although the NHTSA received thousands of complaints, only 98 accidents were attributed to the defect.
Ford Explorers made in the year 2000 were also subject to a massive recall, not necessarily due to the car but because of the Bridgestone/Firestone tires that were issued with them. They had a tendency to blow out. 250 people died as the result of these faulty tires.
Again, car recalls are nothing new, and sadly, deaths and injuries are the result of car defects. What is not new is the fact that car companies rarely offer fair compensation for the people who were injured or killed. Initial settlements offered are quite often incredibly low, and if the case is taken to arbitration or court, many car companies do everything they can to discredit the victims or pay the least amount they can. This is the reason that it is so important to have experienced legal counsel in the event that you have been injured by a defective car.
Greenberg and Bederman is an injury law firm based in Washington, D.C, and we are currently offering legal assistance to those who have been injured due to cars that are faulty and defective. We haveserve Maryland and Baltimore, and we can help anyone in the Washington, D.C. or Northern Virgnia area.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident caused by a defective car, contact Greenberg and Bederman for a free legal consultation today.
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