defective vehicle lawyer

$3M Defective Vehicle Product Liability Verdict Reversed

February 28, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A federal appeals court reversed a $3 million judgment in favor of a personal injury plaintiff who alleged a defective vehicle caused him to suffer serious injuries in a 2012 car accident. The court ruled that expert witness testimony pertaining to the speed control cable should not have been admitted. Specifically, the appellate court ruled, the precedent set in the 1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals meant the trial court had a duty to perform certain gatekeeping functions with regard to its expert witnesses, and yet the court failed to do so.

According to court records from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the most recent case, plaintiff was driving his pickup truck, which he had recently purchased, on a road in West Virginia. He was traveling about 50 mph when he realized he was unable to slow down when he let up on the accelerator pedal. He tried to slow the pickup by applying the brakes, but this did not work. In order to avoid hitting anyone else, he turned the truck off the road, drove over a curb and crashed his vehicle into a brick wall of a local business. The tires continued spinning for about half a minute after the engine shut down.

There was no indication the vehicle previously had problems with the accelerator, throttle or cruise control. Continue reading ›

New Safe Rental Car Act Now In Effect, Prohibits Use of Recalled Vehicles

July 4, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

It seems such a common-sense measure for rental car companies: Don’t rent out vehicles that have been recalled until they’ve been repaired.

But until June 1, 2016, there was no law stopped from them from doing so. Many rental car companies routinely rented to customers vehicles they knew were unsafe. Very few faced any consequences for it.

Then in 2004, two sisters, ages 20 and 24, picked up a rental car they assumed was safe. Little did they know, it had actually been recalled for leaking steering fluid. They were the fourth customers to rent the vehicle after the recall was announced. As they were driving, the steering fluid began to leak. The sister who was driving lost control of the car and slammed into a semi-truck before the car burst into flames, killing them both. Since then, their mother has been fighting to hold the rental car company accountable and to enact legislation that would ensure this never happened again. Continue reading ›

Deadly Defect in GM Cars Leads to $900 Million Penalty, No Criminal Charges

October 3, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The General Motors ignition switch defect linked to 124 deaths and many more injuries resulted in a criminal case by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is now being settled for $900 million.

That may sound like a lot of money, but those who have lost loved, were injured or even faced felony charges for crashes they did not actually cause, say it’s of little solace. Primarily, their issue is not so much with the dollar amount, though it is 25 percent less than the $1.2 billion Toyota agreed to pay last year for the fatal flaws in its vehicles. Rather, the issue is the fact that no one with the company will face criminal charges.

In fact, the DOJ has agreed to defer prosecution of the company for three years. If the company abides by the terms of the agreement – which include an independent safety practices monitor – the company will walk away with a clean record. Continue reading ›