Yourlawyer.com (Side Impact Injuries News)

GM Issues HHR Wagon Recall, While NHTSA Investigates Tahoe and Yukon Fires

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

General Motors HHR Wagons do not meet federal crash standards, prompting a recall of 181,156 HHR Wagons. News of the HHR Wagon recall came just a few days after it was revealed that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating complaints that some of the automaker’s Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukons have caught fire while their engines where off.

According to GM, HHR Wagons sold between 2006 and 2008 that were not equipped with optional roof rail-mounted airbags failed crash tests, and will not protect riders from head injuries in side impact crashes. GM said dealers would need to install a piece of energy-absorbing plastic to the headliner trim of the HHR Wagons to correct the problem. The HHR Wagon recall will begin in late March, GM said, when the parts become available. The company will send out notification letters to customers with more information on the HHR Wagon recall. In 2007, about 99,000 Chevy Cobalt sedans were recalled for a similar problem. The Cobalt and HHR share similar underlying engineering.

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com is reporting that the NHTSA is investigating two consumer complaints that 2007 Chevy Tahoes and GMC Yukons caught fire while parked in home garages with the engines off. According to ConsumerAffairs.com, the truck owners reported to NHTSA that both homes were badly damaged and two people were injured in one of the fires.

Despite similarities between the incidents, neither the Chevy Tahoe nor the GMC Yukon are equipped with the type of cruise control system that causes a fire in Ford Motor Co. cars and trucks. Earlier this month, Ford announced that it was recalling an additional 225,000 vehicles due to faulty wiring in the cruise control mechanism. Since 1999, Ford has recalled more than 10 million vehicles because of a faulty cruise control switch that could cause a vehicle to erupt in flames even when it was turned off and parked.

According to ConsumerAffairs.com, the NHTSA Office of Defect Investigations has opened a preliminary investigation of both vehicles that could eventually lead to a recall of the SUVs. The agency estimates as many as 400,000 vehicles would be affected if a defect is identified and a recall ordered.

Toyota recalling some Scion TC sedans due to side air bags

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) said Tuesday it was recalling about 30,000 Scion tC sports coupes over concerns that the side air bags could inadvertently deploy if the door is slammed.

The recall affects about 20% of the tCs produced during the 2005 and 2006 model years, Toyota said. The vehicle is only sold in the United States.

The auto maker said seat-mounted side air bags and side curtain air bags could deploy if the door on that side of the vehicle is closed forcefully while the ignition is on or within 90 seconds of when the ignition is turned off.

Toyota said it has received reports of 17 incidents in which the air bag deployed. No accidents, deaths or injuries have been reported.
Scion, Toyota's youth-oriented brand, will send recall notices to owners next month. Dealers will replace the side air bag sensors at no charge. Consumers can call the auto maker at (866) 707-2466.

WHILE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES DESIGNED TO MAKE CARS AND TRUCKS SMARTER ARE IMPROVING SAFETY, THEY ARE ALSO CREATING POTENTIAL THREATS TO PRIVACY

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700

The crashworthiness of motor vehicles has improved immensely over the past several years. The addition of front, side, and overhead air bags, crumple zones, safety cages, reinforced door panels, and less vulnerable fuel tanks have significantly improved your chances of surviving even a violent collision. These improvements, however, are reaching their limit and may only see smaller advances in the future.

It is for this reason that manufacturers are turning their attention to “crash-avoidance” technology which is designed to enhance driver awareness, reaction, and response in critical situations. This includes computerized systems that avoid collisions, minimize impacts, sense changing road conditions, sound warnings, tighten seatbelts, enhance braking and steering, and improve handling. Even radar sensors are being incorporated into this technology.

Many of the newest systems integrate several features that then act together in dangerous situations thereby producing optimal driver response. This significantly improves the chances of survival for an average or even below average driver.

The potential “dark side” to all of this technology, however, can be found in the sophisticated data-collection or “black box” devices that are now routinely installed in about two-thirds of the new vehicles sold in the United States. Some 30 million vehicles already have these devices known officially as event data recorders.

Currently, these devices are designed to record and store information on such variables as speed, throttle position, braking, airbag deployment, and seat belt use. More elaborate black boxes are used by long-haul trucking companies to monitor the operation of their trucks in great detail.

There are a multitude of uses to which this information can be put. Some of them are very good and some, according to privacy experts, are very bad.

On the positive side, the information gathered may prove helpful in criminal prosecutions, to help convict bad drivers of speeding and drunk driving violations, and to exonerate those wrongly accused of certain offenses. As raw data, without identifying individual drivers, it can aid in improving traffic laws and automobile design and safety.

Many lawmakers and privacy advocates see a real danger that this information will be used in litigation or by insurance companies against drivers who were unaware it was being collected.
They also fear that once the technology is in place, more and more information can be gathered with very little difficulty. This could include recording information from on-board navigation and cell phone systems. It could also lead to insurance companies structuring rates to penalize drivers who refuse to have one of the devices in their car.

To deal with these concerns, there are proposals requiring disclosure by manufacturers as to which vehicles have the devices and for the installation of cut-off switch that can be activated by the driver.

Side Impact Product Liability Traumatic Brain Injury Accident Attorney

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Side Impact Injuries

About 10,000 passenger vehicle passengers die each year in side impacts, and head injuries are a leading cause. Side airbags designed specifically to protect the head can reduce such deaths and the even more numerous nonfatal head injuries that occur in side impacts.

A side impact or T-bone as some people call them, most often happens at intersections when one car turns into the lane of another. When another vehicle comes barreling into you from the side, it is the deadliest place you can be in a car. Unlike a head-on crash, where you are protected by several feet of steel, engine and bumper, if you're hit from the side, all you've got between you and the other guy is a few inches of door and some window glass.

All vehicles on the road today have to pass the government's side impact standard, but many people feel these standards are outdated. The government uses a dummy representing an average size male that doesn't register head injuries and it's test only looks at what happens when similar size vehicles collide.

Manufacturers need to start making these side impact airbags that protect the head standard equipment. And in some cases, they also need to beef up their side structure to resist intrusion in these kinds of crashes.

Car makers have announced new “voluntary” side impact protection guidelines to go into effect by September 2007. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is working on a tougher standard for side impact crashes. But that standard will not require side airbags, even though studies show hundreds of lives could be saved each year with those devices.

If you or a loved one was injured in a side impact vehicle accident, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified product liability attorney.