Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer Blog

The experienced Pennsylvania car accident and Pennsylvania vehicle defect lawyers at Reiff and Bily call your attention to the fact that 135,000 Infinity G35 have been recalled due to the fact that the connector detecting passenger seat airbags on Infinity G35's may be defective due to connectivity problems. The Japanese from Nissan announced that they have determined that a faulty electrical wiring installation which could lead to disabling the airbag in an accident event. Nissan claims that this recall was made after an internal investigation and they are not aware of any airbag accident with this model. The problem affects G35 sedan models produced between 2005 and 2006 as well as the G35 coupe produced between 2005 and 2007. The problem will be resolved by replacing a seat connector leading to the airbags. The problem can also be aggravated by severe vibration and also by a passenger jumping up and down in the vehicle. This recall is the latest event in a string of recalls by Nissan.

Honda is the latest Japanese automobile manufacturer to issue a recall of over 400,000 vehicles due to an alleged brake problem. Models including the 2007 to 2008 Honda Odyssey minivan and Honda Element small truck. According to Honda, the brakes may become soft due to inadequate sealing which allows air to intrude in the mechanism. While only a small quantity of air may enter the mechanism over time, the quantity of air will compound resulting in soft or low brake pedal. This requires the driver to apply more pressure to the brake pedal pushing it closer to the floor to stop the vehicle and if the problem is not fixed, braking power may be greatly minimized or lost completely and the loss could lead to an accident possibly causing catastrophic injury or death. There have been three reported crashes due to this issue and according to Honda, they have resulted only in minor injuries. The recall begins April 19, 2010.

Since November 2008, Honda has recalled over 1.5 million vehicles. The first vehicle recall involved over 500,000 vehicles due to faulty airbags. In February 2010 an additional 473,000 were recalled due to that issue. Recall cases involving Hondas, Toyotas or other automobile manufacturers are being handled by the Philadelphia automotive product liability defect law firm of Reiff and Bily. Our experienced Philadelphia car accident and vehicle defect lawyers are committed to consumer safety and can give you guidance to help you deal with a recall issue or if you or a loved one has sustained a serious injury or death as a result of a problem noted in an auto defect recall.

Once again Toyota executives have a bulls eye on their backs as at least 10 new complaints submitted to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration charged the recall fix is not working and the problems with sudden acceleration defect continues. The new post-recall complaints were first noted in a report by Safety Research and Strategies SRS a private research firm located in Rehobath, MA. Among the complaints detailed by SRS was a driver who said that even though her 2009 Toyota Matrix had its brakes and pass pedal service February 10th, the car was so uncontrollable on February 26th. Another 2008 Avalon owner said the car was backing out of a driveway a few days after being serviced when it accelerated on its own and the car did about three loops around the garage area of the home causing damage to the car, benches, branches, trees, lamp post, etc. Another complaint says that 2010 Toyota Camry suddenly surged just 5 days after having recall work done.

Although Toyota executives claim they are confident that their SUA recalls will end when the microphones are put in front of them, some consumers who have taken their recall vehicles in for the fix tell a different story.

The Toyota vehicle defect law firm of Reiff and Bily is continuing to investigate and handle Toyota SUA cases and if you or a loved one has been a victim of this situation, please feel free to contact our office for a free consultation.

As no doubt many of our readers are aware, there have been several instances of runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles due to unintended acceleration causing catastrophic injuries and death. Recently Toyota concluded that those cases were the result of floor mats becoming lodged under the accelerator panels. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as attorneys and experts/investigators familiar with those cases have stated that the floor mat issue is not necessarily the only cause.

Toyota has announced that a brake override software system will shift the engine to idle if it detects that the driver is attempting to apply the brakes without success. Toyota has indicated that it will install brake override systems on all Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles by the end of this year in order to prevent unintended acceleration. The brake override systems will be installed on the Camry, Avalon, Lexus ES 350, IS 350, and IS 250 models. This brake override system will be made standard equipment throughout the Toyota and Lexus product line beginning January 2010 starting with the production of the ES 350 and Camry and scheduled to be incorporated in production of most new models by the end of 2010.

The Philadelphia car accident and vehicle product defect firm of Reiff and Bily has been intimately involved in unintended acceleration cases and if you or a loved one has suffered an injury or death as a result of an unintended acceleration case, please feel free to contact one of our experienced vehicle defect lawyers for a no obligation consultation.