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› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found the annual cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with motor vehicle crash injuries exceeds $99 billion per year in the United States, with direct medical care accounting for $17 billion. Despite great improvements in traffic safety in recent years, the costs related to traffic accidents amount to about $500 per licensed driver in the U.S.
A Texas jury awarded the family of a 19-year-old woman $1.8 million after finding a defective seat design contributed to her death in a July 2007 traffic accident.
At a time when the news is full of reports of cars accelerating out of control and crashing, drivers texting behind the wheel and car roofs crushed in deadly rollovers, here’s some welcome news: the number of people killed in U.S. traffic accidents is the lowest since 1954.
Toyota is telling drivers of certain Toyota and Lexus cars and trucks to remove their driver’s side floor mats immediately until the company can develop a solution to its floor mat problem. The company announced in its September 29 safety advisory that the accelerator pedal may become jammed in full open position when an “unsecured or incompatible floor mat” is used, causing the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally.
Floor mats are behind Toyota’s most recent safety warning affecting some 3.8 million vehicles. But the problem isn’t a new one. A report in the New York Times says that both Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have known about the problem for more than two years. Toyota Motor Corp., according to the Times, has been investigating the potential for floor mats to interfere with the gas pedal since March of 2007. The problem has caused some vehicles to accelerate unintentionally, prompting Toyota to look for solutions. No recalls of the affected vehicles have been announced yet.
The words “fuel economy” pack more appeal for American car buyers than any other time in automotive history. Motivated by financial strains to cut costs and inspired by the Green Revolution to reduce fuel consumption, millions of Americans are turning to smaller and smaller car models. But are mini and micro size cars, which are so common on European streets, safe for people to use on American roads and interstates?
Last month, we wrote about the texting-while-driving video produced by the Police Department of Gwent, Wales, a 4-minute graphic glimpse at what happens when a driver, distracted by a text message, unconsciously steers into oncoming traffic. The filmmakers posted the video to YouTube in condensed form (the entire film is 30 minutes long) simply to show a colleague, never expecting it would go viral. Within weeks, it was viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube and other web sites. The video’s instant popularity astounded everyone, but some critics wonder whether its message carried through the noise and carnage of the fictitious three-vehicle crash.
An investigative report by CBS reveals the lengths some big corporations will go to conceal evidence that casts the company and its products in a dubious light. The report features Dimitrios Biller, a former attorney for Toyota, who accuses the car manufacturer of withholding and destroying evidence in more than 300 rollover and roof crush lawsuits. Biller alleges Toyota took measures to hide evidence “of its vehicles’ structural shortcomings,” an effort which he claims amounted to a “ruthless conspiracy.”
Beasley Allen has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ford Motor Company in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, Hattiesburg, on behalf of a Mississippi family whose 2002 Ford Explorer XLS rolled over after being struck by another vehicle.
The Riley family, represented by Beasley Allen attorney J.P. Sawyer, alleges that the vehicle’s restraint system and door latch were defective and failed to protect them in the rollover. In result, Matthew and Carmen Riley and one of their daughters received severe injuries. Another daughter, Alyssa Riley, was killed in the rollover.
Seventeen-year-old Aaron Bullock, an Oklahoma resident, was critically injured in an ATV accident in 2005. The boy was riding an ATV at the home of his friend’s grandparents when the accident occurred. Sadly, Bullock was not wearing a helmet at the time. Among other injuries, including a broken leg, Bullock suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that left him comatose for more than 2 months. When he emerged from the coma, it was clear that the TBI had a devastating impact on Bullock’s eyesight, mental abilities, and muscle control. Doctors weren’t optimistic about his recovery.
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