Defective Seat Belt Attorneys in PA
"Seat belts save lives". "Click it or ticket". We’ve all heard the slogans and seen the campaigns urging drivers to wear seat belts. Seat belts are one of the most important and effective safety features vehicles have that can prevent serious injury or death. When used, seat belts can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45%, and can reduce the risk of critical injury by 50%.
In a Philadelphia motor vehicle collision, your car crashes into a barrier, other vehicle, or pedestrian. Injuries to drivers and passengers occur during the ‘second collision’ when they hit interior vehicle features like the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield, or when someone is ejected from the vehicle. Seat belts restrain passengers to avoid a second collision. But what happens when seat belts fail and injure you or a loved one?
Seat belt defects and failures can cause serious, and sometimes, fatal injuries. Causes of seat belt failures include mechanical error, faulty material used resulting in tearing, poor or defective design, manufacturer and assembly errors, accidental buckle unlatching, seat belts detaching from their anchor, and retractor error causing too much slack. When a seat belt is defective or fails, it is like the passenger was not even wearing a seat belt.
The most common injuries resulting from seat belt failure in a car crash are to the neck and head, to the chest, and to the arms and legs. When a seat belt fails to restrain someone in a head-on collision, the person can be catapulted forward, through the windshield and ejected from the car, resulting in catastrophic or fatal injuries. People who are ejected from their vehicle during an auto collision are more likely to sustain spinal cord and neck injuries resulting in paralysis, paraplegia, quadriplegia, or death. Seat belt defects can also cause strangulation when there is too much slack in the belt. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that a seat belt’s failure can cause a driver or passenger to be situated too close to an air bag, and cause serious injury or death. When a vehicle’s safety features fail to work properly, you can be left with devastating injuries, huge medical costs, or even wrongful death. You have the right to rely on a vehicle’s safety features and believe they will keep you and your loved ones safe.
Every year auto manufacturers issue thousands of vehicle recalls for faulty or defective seat belts. Over 8 million vehicles have been recalled for using Takata seat belts, which have a danger of unlatching and failing to lock properly. Takata seat belts have been used by Honda, Mazda, Ford, Mitsubishi, Subaru, General Motors, Chrysler, and others. The 2011 Chevrolet Equinox has been recalled with reports that the front seat belt anchors may separate in a crash, increasing the risk of catastrophic injury. Several Saturn models have been recalled due to seat belt assembly issues, which caused the seat belts to fail to meet federal safety standards. Ford has issued a recall for some 2001 models in which a suspected defect led to seat belts unlatching, resulting in one death and nine injuries.
If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a failing seat belt in Pennsylvania, or you believe a defect in a seat belt caused injuries to you or a loved one in a car accident, Philadelphia seat belt defect lawyers can help you determine who is at fault for your injuries. You may be entitled to financial compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other similar costs if we discover a seat belt defect or failure caused your injuries. For over 30 years, the attorneys at Reiff & Bily have successfully represented clients who were injured due to defective products, and our clients have been awarded millions in compensation for damages and physical injuries.
