Defective Vehicle Claims
Unfortunately, many drivers and passengers are seriously injured or killed in car wrecks every year in Texas due to dangerous vehicle defects. Oftentimes, these serious injuries or deaths would not have occurred if the vehicle had been designed and manufactured properly. If your vehicle did not perform properly, you may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer or distributor, particularly if severe injuries or death resulted. At Tate Law Offices, our car crash attorneys have helped clients in Dallas, Fort Worth, Sherman, Houston, and all over Texas receive compensation from vehicle manufacturers and distributors through defective vehicle claims and lawsuits. Our skilled claims lawyers are empathetic to the victims of these devastating vehicle accidents. We have the skills necessary to handle your personal injury or wrongful death claim and our product liability lawyers will fight for your right to receive compensation for your injuries and losses from the vehicle manufacturer or distributor.
Types of Defective Vehicle Car Wrecks
Vehicle Rollover
Several types of defects can cause a vehicle to roll over, the most common of which are:
- The vehicle, usually an SUV, truck, or van, was designed with too high of a center of gravity
- A tire blew out due to de-tread or some other manufacturing defect
- The vehicle did not have electronic stability control (ESC), which is proven to decrease the chance of a vehicle rollover dramatically
Roof Crush
Many models of cars, trucks, and SUVs lack adequate roof strength. When the roof of a vehicle is not strong enough to resist impact, it may be crushed in too far, injuring the driver and/or passengers, during a vehicle rollover. Sadly, Texas vehicle occupants are often killed or rendered quadriplegic or paraplegic because of roof crush.
Seat belt Failure
While designed to protect drivers and their passengers, seat-belts can release or unlatch during a Texas car wreck. As a result, vehicle occupants may suffer a severe blow from the unlatched seat belt or they may be ejected from the vehicle. In addition, even though auto manufacturers have long known that a three-point seat belt is much safer than a lap belt, many cars, trucks, and vans still come equipped with only a lap belt for the center passenger.
Airbag Failure
Airbags can be lifesaving when they work properly, but defective airbags can be extremely dangerous to vehicle occupants. When airbag sensors are not calibrated properly, the airbags may not deploy during a car wreck or the airbags may deploy too hard, leading to severe injuries or death. In other instances, vehicle drivers or passengers are injured because the vehicle’s airbags were designed to protect the chest area, but not the head or vice versa.
Tire Defects
Defects in tires may cause them to blow out, de-tread, or otherwise not perform properly. Additionally, tires that are too old have a high failure rate. Tire manufacturers such as Firestone, Michelin, Bridgestone, BF Goodrich, Dunlop, Uniroyal, Cooper, Yokohama, Goodyear, Pirelli, Continental, Titan, and others have had tire defect problems that caused injury. Tire retailers such as Discount Tire, Firestone, Wal-Mart, and Sears have caused devastating vehicle wrecks due to their improper tire installation, inspection, or service.
Safety Cage Intrusion
The purpose of a vehicle safety cage is to preserve the passenger compartment in order to protect the occupants in the event of a crash or vehicle rollover. Inadequate door beams, metal design, and door latches can allow intrusion into or ejection from the safety cage compartment of the vehicle.
Vehicle Fires
Vehicles may explode or catch fire during an accident due to auto manufacturer defects including:
- Placement of fuel tank within the crush zone of the vehicle
- Failure to install anti-siphoning valves
- Incorrect routing of fuel lines
- Lack of fuel filler tube check valves
Seat Failure
In some Texas car accidents, especially rear end wrecks, the seat back on a bucket seat breaks causing the seat occupant to be violently thrown into the backseat of the car. Because the occupant is moved away from the seat belt and airbags, serious head, neck, and back injuries often result. Seat failure is also dangerous for passengers behind the defective seat, especially children, because the entire weight of an adult can be forcefully thrown against backseat passengers causing permanent injuries or death.
Glass Safety Glazing
Even though statistics show that passengers ejected from a vehicle are 25 times more likely to die than passengers who remain inside a vehicle, auto manufacturers have not used laminated safety glass on windows in many vehicles that would help prevent passenger ejections.
How Tate Law Offices Can Help with Your Defective Vehicle Claim
Proving a vehicle defect caused your Texas car wreck can be very difficult. It requires a skilled and experienced attorney with thorough understanding of product liability laws to represent your case successfully. When you hire Tate Law Offices to handle your Texas defective vehicle claim or lawsuit, we will immediately secure your vehicle and have it inspected to determine whether a manufacturing or design defect caused your injuries. Once any vehicle defects are confirmed, we will continue to gather additional evidence in order to build a strong case against the auto manufacturer, distributor, or retailer.
Whether you have been injured in Dallas, Fort Worth, or elsewhere in Texas, contact the skilled Texas defective vehicle attorneys at Tate Law Offices today. With offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Sherman, our lawyers have extensive experience handling defective vehicle cases in Texas. In addition, we will provide a free case review and we will not charge you with any legal fees unless we obtain a settlement for your injuries or wrongful death claim. Call us at 888-223-3461 today to set up an appointment with one of our Texas product liability lawyers.
