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The victims of a fatal accident or people who suffer traumatic injury in a car crash may be able to recover significantly more financial damages from the carmaker if a safety defect is responsible. Auto safety expert and car accident lawyer Todd Tracy explains how to know if you may have a case in this video.
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I always tell people when they call my firm about whether they need a crashworthiness lawyer. I ask them this question. Do you have enough coverage from the underlying accident to thoroughly and completely compensate your client?
If you have a quadriplegic or a paraplegic, someone who’s catastrophically brain-injured or who may be dead, and you don’t have millions of dollars of coverage, you need to start looking for other sources of recovery. One of those sources of recovery is the vehicle that they were in. It doesn’t matter if they were driving, if they were a passenger in the vehicle. The vehicle has to provide safety to everyone in the vehicle equally.
That’s what we tell everyone. Now, what are we concerned with when we look at a vehicle? We’re not concerned with who caused the accident because believe it or not, the vehicle manufacturers know that accidents are going to take place.
So we’re concerned with how did the safety systems perform throughout the accident and there are really only five safety systems that we’re concerned with at any given point in time. We’re concerned with the structure. How did the roof hold up? How did the front structure hold up? How did the side structure hold up? How did the rear structure hold up? We’re concerned with how did the restraint systems perform. I’m not just talking about the seat belts. That’s just one of many restraint systems in a vehicle.
For example, there are airbags, not just frontal airbags. Vehicles today have knee airbags. Vehicles today now have airbags that come out of the seats that protect the torso, that protect the head. There are also airbags that are side curtain airbags that go from the front of the vehicle all the way to the back of the vehicle.
You then have to make certain that how did the seat perform. In a rear impact accident, did the seat stay up right or did it collapse rearward and allow a restrained person to be thrown out of the vehicle? The door is a perfect example of a restraint system.
If the door opens up like it did on this vehicle, on this side, or the vehicle on the driver’s side, you can get thrown out of the vehicle with your seatbelt still on. You have to make certain that you are not ejected from the vehicle. You can have your seatbelt on and when the glass breaks out, your body can be thrown outside the vehicle. That’s why we want laminated glass and we want side curtains.
You want to make certain that the vehicle channels and distributes energy forces from the front of the vehicle all the way to the rear of the vehicle. I always tell people that the safest vehicles in the world are as follows.
If I get hit on the left front headlight, my right rear taillight should break out because all the energy and crash forces had distributed around, under and over the vehicle and lastly, you want to make certain that the vehicle does not catch on fire. Those are the five points that we look for in every single case. Do you have the damages? Is your person belted and do you have a potential safety defect?
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If you, a family member, or friend have suffered a traumatic car accident injury or they were killed in an auto accident, there may be grounds for a product liability lawsuit against the car maker. The victim’s or family members of the deceased person may be entitled to significantly more money in damages than just a negligence case about the cause of the accident.
The Tracy Law Firm focuses on “Who Caused The Traumatic Car Accident Injuries or Death” — not who caused the accident.
Whether you were at fault or not in the cause of the accident, car companies are required by federal motor vehicle safety standards to make vehicles that will protect the driver and passengers from catastrophic injuries or death.
Contact Todd Tracy directly to request a complimentary catastrophic accident case review at the Vehicle Safety Firm.
Or call the Tracy Firm for a consultation at 214-324-9000.
The Tracy Law Firm is a nationwide law practice dedicated to making cars safer for the public.
