loading

Understanding Auto Defect Cases

Auto defect cases deal mostly with issues involving product defects and liabilities. Under California’s product liability law, manufacturers, dealers and distributors can be held liable for injuries that result from the use of defective products or products with faulty designs.

In terms of cars and automobiles, manufacturers must guarantee the safety of drivers and occupants in foreseeable collisions or accidents, which is also known as crashworthiness. This means automobiles must be designed with utmost consideration of consumers’ safety.

When a car or automobile fails the safety requirement under federal standards, the manufacturer makes itself vulnerable to lawsuits or product recall.

Auto defect cases involve issues in the following defective car parts:

  • Air bags
  • Seatbelt
  • Accelerators
  • Brake system
  • Tires
  • Vulnerability to rollover
  • Seat backs

Liability in Auto Defect Cases

Generally, liability in most personal injury cases such as car accidents is pursued through negligence, which is the failure to exercise reasonable care under a situation. For instance, in a car collision, the victim or the injured party can establish negligence of the offender by showing that he acted against reasonable care. One way to show this is by citing traffic or road violations committed by the offender.

However, in auto defect cases, a victim need not show this; he only has to show proof that a design flaw or a faulty auto part was responsible for the accident, which under product liability law, falls on the hands of the manufacturer and/or other parties involved in the distributing chain.

Therefore when an automobile does not perform as safely as expected and the consumer is harmed not only by the collision itself but also because of the design flaw, the manufacturer can be held liable for the damages that may occur as a result.

Legal Consequences

An injured victim of a car accident caused by defects or design flaws may recover both economic and non-economic damages from the manufacturer.

The recoverable compensatory damages may include the following:

  • Medical expenses (present and future)
  • Loss income and wages
  • Loss benefits
  • Property damage

Non-economic damages may include compensation for the following:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment
  • Loss of consortium

In some cases, punitive damages may also be awarded to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future. In fatal cases, the victim’s survivors may also file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover compensation for their losses.

Proving liability in accident cases may require the services of a lawyer, preferably someone knowledgeable and experienced in handling accidents involving auto defect cases.

| More
First Name  
Last Name  
City  
State  
Phone  
Email  
Type  
Details  
Join Our Mailing List

  Type the letters below:  

Captcha Image
Follow us on Twitter
Facebook
Avvo Profile
Linkedin Profile

Follow us on Twitter
Facebook
Avvo Profile
Linkedin Profile
RatePoint Business Reviews