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The victims of the 2004 Ford rollover accident in Fair Oaks, Calif. received $50 million in punitive damages and $20 million for medical and automobile expenses from a Sacramento jury last month. The jury found Ford Motor Co. "59% responsible" for the accident after learning that Ford was aware of the possible tire blow-out issues, which caused the accident, and did nothing to recall the tires or warn consumers.
Two people were injured and one person, who was not wearing his seat belt, was killed in the accident. The passengers, part of a Presbyterian musical group, were heading home from a statewide tour in the Ford 15-passenger Econoline van when the tread separated from one of the tires, causing the blow-out. Before the verdict, Ford insisted that Goodyear was responsible for the accident, and Ford continues to insist that its E-350 van series is "safe", even though the Econoline has been the subject of many FDA advisories.
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A 26 year old California woman, who became a paraplegic after her car seat collapsed during a rear-end collision in 2006, has been awarded $24.7 million by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury. The trial occurred in the city of Pasadena, California in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County jury determined that a defective car seat caused the Los Angeles woman to become a paraplegic. The crash occurred at Corson Street and Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California. The jury ordered seat manufacturer Johnson Controls to pay $24.7 million for the woman's injuries. A Johnson Controls spokesman said that the company intended to appeal the verdict.
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In a slew of recent recalls, General Motors yanked over 230,000 vehicles off the market due to various brake, transmission, and steering issues.
Chevrolet Cruze vehicles made up the bulk of the recalled vehicles. According to a National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration report, owners complained of steering loss, due to loose bolts in the steering shaft, and transmission issues, caused by a transmission shift linkage system that was not properly installed. Altogether, about 230,000 certain model year 2011 Cruze vehicles were recalled.
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Just when we thought the recalls were ending, Toyota announced another recall, this one affecting a possible 50,939 Tundras. Although this recall was not as extensive as the 15 other major Toyota recalls over the past 12 months, it still brings into question the reliability of the motor company and their once highly-esteemed products.
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After two NHTSA investigations and hundreds of consumer complaints, Ford was forced to recall a possible 1,325,000 vehicles. Certain model year 2004-2006 F-150s and certain model year 2006 Lincoln Mark LT vehicles were affected by this recall.
According to the investigative reports, these vehicles may have an internal circuit issue which could inadvertently deploy the driver's front airbag, increasing the risk of car accidents and injuries, or cause the airbag warning light to illuminate, indicating service is required.
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Tuesday, 26 April 2011 17:14 | Written by Toyota Recall Lawyer |
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Thursday, 24 February 2011 23:04 | Written by Toyota Recall Lawyer |
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Right when Toyota thought its floor-mat crises were over, new complaints of "unintended acceleration" due to "floor-mat entrapment" forced the automobile manufacturer to recall another 2.2 million vehicles. This latest recall, including the previous 5.5 million vehicles recalled due to "unintended acceleration," puts the tally up to 7.7 million Toyota vehicles recalled in the past two years due to improperly manufactured floor-mats.
Tuesday, 05 April 2011 02:46 | Written by Volkswagen Recall Lawyer... |
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Recent reports of short-circuiting issues, including incidences of stalled engines and malfunctioning headlights and wiper blades, led Volkswagen to recall 71,043 2011 Jettas. The affected vehicles, manufactured from March 2010 to March 2011, may have a converter box protected by the same fuse used by the signal horn and anti-theft alarm system. Under this wiring system, if the converter box were to become disconnected for any reason, other applications (such as the engine management system, lighting system, and wipers) would shut off.
Sunday, 27 February 2011 21:47 | Written by Ford Recall Lawyer |
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According to National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration documentation, Ford was aware of this problem in 2006 and has fought the recall, arguing that these deployments affected a low percentage of their vehicles, and were therefore not a great safety hazard. Ford also said that owners would see the air-bag warning light, which should prompt them to have their vehicle checked, and the problem fixed, at a dealership. Even if the problem was not fixed, Ford argued that any injuries resulting from the deployments would be "minor in nature." Although, under federal regulations, a corporation has 5 days once it has been made aware of a problem to announce a recall, Ford avoided the recall until the NHTSA demanded recently that the corporation remedy the problem.
Tuesday, 01 March 2011 20:13 | Written by Toyota Recall Lawyer |
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Tuesday, 25 January 2011 00:00 | Written by Toyota Recall Lawyer |
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January 25, 2011
Although Toyota agreed to the settlement, they denied that the headlight failure was due to any wrongdoing on their part or due to a malfunction of their vehicle. The suit claimed, however, that Toyota knew of the Prius' circuiting problems, and concealed these problems from buyers. Many owners, forced to fix the problem themselves, paid anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to replace the headlight system.
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Surprise, Surprise. Toyota has recently issued another recall (in addition to the almost 20 recalls it has issued since 2009). This time, over 300,000 Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, and Rav4 vehicles were recalled due to possible airbag system malfunctions.
Recently, after 238 reports of unintended air-bag deployments, around 144,000 Ford F-I50 pickup trucks, manufactured from 2005-2006, were recalled. Many of these trucks have experienced problems with air-bags deploying on the driver's side when the vehicle has not been in a crash. This unintended deployment has led to 77 injuries thus far, including abrasions, cuts, broken teeth, and, for two individuals, loss of consciousness. 
Ray LaHood, Transportation Department Secretary, recently announced that a 10 month study of Toyota vehicles, conducted primarily by NASA, found no software code errors or electrical defects which could account for the thousands of reported "unintended acceleration" cases that have plagued Toyota for the past decade. According the LaHood, the study concluded that the only viable factors that could account for Toyota's woes were either faulty floor-mats that jammed gas pedals or the gas pedals themselves, which could have become stuck.