National Seat Failure Lawyers
We all know that wearing seat belts in motor vehicles is absolutely mandatory. The difference can be minor to major injuries. What most of us don't know, though, is that in some cars the seats aren't safe. For more information on seat failures, you can contact a seat failure lawyer by using the contact link at the top and bottom of the page.
 Side by side comparison test (Weak OEM seatbelt v RF stronger seatbelt) of small 116 lb female test subjects at 29 mph - Rear Impact Velocity - Ford Aerostar - 2006 |
When a vehicle is involved in a rear impact accident and the seat collapses, it is known as seat back failure. The result is the seat's occupant being thrown backwards, often violently. This can even happen at slow speeds, if the seat is poorly designed.
The weaker the design and the higher the speed, the greater the threat is to the occupant of the seat. When the seat fails, airbags and seatbelts are of little help to the person in the seat. Serious neck, head and back injuries can occur. The danger is just as great for the passenger who is sitting behind the defective seat.
"The Consequences of Weak Front Seatback Failure in Low-Impact Rear Collisions"
Typically, children are placed in the rear seats of a vehicle. This poses an even greater danger for them in seat back failures. If the seat in front of the child collapses, the force and weight impacting them is much greater than their own.
While the major auto manufacturers in the US know of the dangers of weak seat designs, there has been little done to improve seat designs to prevent seat back failures. The federal safety standards were last updated in 1967.
The automobile industry has made improvements to protect a vehicle's occupants in a frontal crash. The development of air bags, side air bags, better seat belt designs and tougher child seats have helped to prevent injuries in frontal collisions. Unfortunately, the same improvements have not been focused on rear impact collisions.
Rear end impacts are the second most frequent accidents. While rear end collisions only account for 12% of all injury accidents, they do 20% more damage. Until seat designs are strengthened, seat back failures and collapse will continue leading to unnecessary catastrophic injuries and deaths.
Higher speed rear impacts are extremely dangerous. With weak seat designs, it is possible for the vehicle's front seated occupants to collapse rearward, either hitting the passengers sitting behind them, striking a portion of the vehicle or ejecting from the vehicle.
In a rear impact, the seat back works as the restraining device. Without a strong seat back design, the passenger faces serious injury or death.
- November 23rd, 2006
Nashville, Tennessee
A Tennessee jury has socked DaimlerChrysler Corp. for $105.5 million after
finding that a baby's 2001 death was caused by a faulty minivan seat. You can contact a seat failure attorney by using the contact link at the top or bottom of the page.
Tenn. Jury Returns $105M Verdict Against Daimler Chrysler Over Minivan Seats
The three-week trial in Nashville, Tenn., featured the testimony of a former DaimlerChrysler manager, who testified that the automaker knew the seats in its minivans were unsafe and colluded with a federal regulatory agency to cover up the information.
DaimlerChrysler has vowed to appeal the Tennessee verdict, which includes $98 million in punitive damages, claiming that the crash that led to 8-month-old Joshua Flax's death was caused by a reckless driver, not a flaw in the design of the automaker's Dodge Grand Caravan. In a news release distributed in response to calls for comment about the case, DaimlerChrysler labeled the verdict "grossly excessive, unconstitutional, and a miscarriage of justice."