Auto Safety Expert and Personal Injury Lawyer Todd Tracy explains why door latches are not supposed to fail in a rollover accident.
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A lot of times, lawyers call me up and they say, “Todd, I want to find out if I’ve got a case here. I’ve got an individual that was driving their vehicle. They were involved in a rollover accident. No one else was involved,” and I ask them, “Well, first of all, was your client seat belted?” They say, “Yeah, they were.” They said, “Let me send you a photograph.”
They send me a photograph and I look at the vehicle and the door is open. The door is actually peeled off and their occupant was – or their client was actually hanging outside the vehicle with the seatbelt on and the door looks like this and I tell that lawyer you have to think outside the box and focus on who caused the injury, not who caused the accident.
In a negligence case, it’s OK to focus on who is causing the accident. Who is responsible for the accident? But in a vehicle defect case or a vehicle crashworthiness case, that lawyer and lawyers like me have to focus on who caused the injuries. I can tell you when a door does this in a rollover accident, the safety system is not performing its role.
What is the door’s role in an accident? The door’s role is to keep the occupant inside the vehicle and more importantly, in a frontal impact or a side impact, the door has to maintain its structural integrity so that the incoming vehicle is actually deflected or diverted away much like a guardrail does on a road surface.
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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.
