Automobiles:
Keeping your Family Safe
1.
How can you keep your
family safe?
Safety
is obviously a top priority in choosing the right vehicle for you and your
family. Some important systems to look
for in vehicles include: electronic stability control (ESC), advanced side
airbags, rollover bags, laminated glass, pre-tensioners, and good tires.
ESC
With
rollover crashes claiming about 10,000 lives every year and a multitude of
catastrophic injuries, rollover prevention has become a priority in vehicle
safety. Choosing a vehicle equipped with
an ESC system can help reduce rollovers.
These systems use microprocessors and sensors, “to determine when a
vehicle is beginning to skid and to automatically engage the brakes or
individual wheels, and often to also modulate acceleration, to help stabilize
the vehicle and bring it back under the driver’s control.” Advocates are
supportive of ESC since these systems are more effective than human corrections
because ESC can interpret “the information, in most cases, before the average
driver or even the above average driver can sense the problem.”
Side Airbags
Though
most vehicles are now equipped with side airbags, you’d be surprised to learn
that some cars, family minivans and other SUVs still do not offer side airbags
behind the first row. Unfortunately, this is a widely unrecognized safety
issue, and, as a result, misled or uninformed owners and renters of cars alike
are being affected. This is also an area of product liability litigation where
claims are simply being missed. People are being catastrophically injured in
side-impact car accidents where the rear-seated occupants sustain head or neck
injuries because there was no side-impact airbags. Verify that your vehicle is
equipped with side airbags. You will help to ensure the safety of everyone with
you.
Laminated Glass
Even
though windshields must be made out of laminated glass, there is no equivalent
requirement for side and rear windows.
Side and rear windows are often made out of tempered glass, which is much
easier to penetrate than laminated glass. The majority of cars only have
laminated glass in the windshield; however, there has been an increase in the
use of laminated glass in other windows.
Choose a vehicle that is equipped with laminated glass in all windows.
Understand the Importance of
Pre-Tensioners
Although pre-tensioning technology has
existed for years, it has only recently been incorporated as a vehicle safety
feature, making it a possible defect claim for non-inclusion of this
technology. These systems sense a
possible collision “seconds in advance and activates pre-crash measures.” When
these systems sense a possible collision, they activate the tension in the seat
belt system to hold the occupant in place.
Some advanced systems, like the Pre-Safe system found in Mercedes Benz
S-Class sedan since 2003, move a seat from a reclined position to an upright
position just before the impact.
Check Your Tires Before – And During - A
Road Trip
Maintain
proper tire inflation. Tire failures can
be caused by a variety of factors, including: under or over-inflation, poor
maintenance, tire aging, or a design or manufacturing defect. The key is to maintain proper tire pressure,
which can be tricky in the summertime as heat causes the air inside the tire to
expand and overinflate. In an
overinflated tire, the center section of the tread balloons outward, focusing
weight on the center of the tire.
Conversely, driving on underinflated tires causes the sidewall to bulge
and wear unevenly, reducing tire life and potentially leading to a sudden tire
failure.
Additionally,
make sure you have good tread. Tires
with inadequate tread which have been driven past their useful life and that
are overly worn can fail without notice and lead to a rollover or catastrophic
accident. Tread naturally wears down
over time, and, tires with uneven tread wear or minimal remaining tread should
be removed and replaced. Keeping a watchful eye can lower your risk of a tire
failure and prevent needless tragedy.
Offering information for consumers:
recalls, scams, complaints, good guys, and reports about consumer
problems.
Recalls.gov: official U.S. Government website,
including recalls from various Federal Agencies. ... When
you're buying and using products, safety comes
first.
What
should you do if you think a defective product caused an injury?
If you think that you may have a potential
products liability claim, the first thing you should do is contact an attorney
as soon as possible to evaluate your case.
The more time that passes the harder it will be to conduct a thorough
investigation of what happened.
Important evidence may be lost or destroyed. An experienced attorney will know what
evidence is important to preserve in this type of case.
