http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/defective_car_seatbacks Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:34:12 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/7718 Wed, 03 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/7718
The money is atop $33.9 million in compensatory damages the same jury awarded the family of Kelsey Sasser on Tuesday.

"I certainly hope the people at Ford get the message that it is improper to market and sell vehicles that can injure people," the family's attorney said in a telephone interview.

A Ford attorney did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday. Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford plans to appeal the decision, said a company spokeswoman who declined to identify herself.

"This was a tragic accident, and we feel for the family, but the outcome does not match the evidence," the spokeswoman said, reading a prepared statement.

Rhonda Sasser sued the automaker and the Atlanta dealership that sold the white 2000 Lincoln LS, claiming it had a back fold-down seat that failed to latch securely and collapsed on her 6-year-old daughter, Kelsey, during the accident.

The damages were awarded following a two-week trial in state court.

Concerns about the latch system prompted Ford to change its design in 2001, according to lawyers for the Sassers.

The Sassers maintained that Ford knew about the latch defect as early as 1993.

Dawson has said previously that there were minor problems with the latch system in a small percentage of the 2000 sedans, but not the Sassers' car.

Dawson told jurors there was no reason for a recall because customers could easily detect a malfunctioning latch, which dealers would replace.

The defense attorney also maintained that Kelsey wasn't sitting in the back, alleging that she was in the front passenger seat and was injured by an air bag designed for an adult. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/defective_car_seatbacks Wed, 03 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/defective_car_seatbacks Defective Car Seatbacks Thousands of Americans are injured each year due to the weak and defective designs of car (automobile) seats and their functioning components, such as seatbacks, recliner mechanisms and seat tracks. Car manufacturers continue to ignore injury statistics and their own engineers by refusing to adopt inexpensive design revisions that would drastically improve the safety of car seats, especially in rear end accidents.

Many of the cars on the roads today have seating systems that often directly cause injuries or exacerbate other injuries. When a car a hit from behind the car and is thrust forward but the occupants are rapidly thrown backward. This backward force puts force on the car’s seatback, which should remain upright to cushion and protect occupant’s bodies.

However, many seatbacks are poorly designed and often collapse when this force is exerted on them. A collapsing seatback can result in an occupant being ejected from the car or losing control of the car. Commonly the occupant is thrown around the car injuring themselves or other occupants and can make it difficult for accident victims to get out of the car.

As cars have become lighter to meet fuel economy requirements, so have car seats. The result has been a corresponding reduction in the minimal level of protection provided by a grossly inadequate standard. While seat belts and shoulder harnesses are required to meet dynamic crash test conditions in which the test vehicle collides with a concrete wall at 30 miles per hour, no similar requirements exists for the seat back in rear-impact collisions.

General Motors has become most notorious for producing defective and flimsy seatbacks. Researches have found that just about every front seat produced by General Motors from 1970- mid1990’s was designed to collapse rearward in impact in which there was a speed change of 15 miles per hour or greater. In fact, GM’s own tests document this seat collapse in crash tests.

If you or a loved have been injured by a defective car seatback, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified personal injury attorney.]]>