Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A potential problem including brake light switches on Harley Davidson motorcycles allegedly caused by exposure to too much heat from the exhaust system has lead to a recall of 308,000 Harley Davidson motorcycles. The recall indicates that the problem affects Harley Davidson’s Touring, CVO Touring, and Trike vehicles from 2009 through 2012 model years. Dealers will install a rear brake switch free of charge. Harley Davidson indicates it is aware of one crash from the problem.

If you or a loved has been injured as a result of a motorcycle accident or defective brake light switch, please contact one of our experienced motorcycle accident lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

In a positive sign for plaintiffs’ lawyers and their clients involved in litigation against Toyota over problems regarding sudden acceleration, a Federal judge in California has tentatively decided not to dismiss the first of hundreds of lawsuits. Over 14 million vehicles were recalled by Toyota due to acceleration problems in several models together with brake defects. Toyota has maintained that the problems were due to driver error, faulty floor mats, and sticky accelerator pedals for the unintended acceleration and this issue is being contentiously fought by many auto defects and plaintiffs’ catastrophic injury and wrongful death lawyers deeply committed to consumer and automobile safety.

The Pennsylvania auto product defect and unintended acceleration law firm of Reiff & Bily is committed to consumer safety and has successfully represented the interests of catastrophically injured and their families for over three and a half decades. We always offer a free, no obligation consultation. For more information, contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced Philadelphia car accident attorney who has successfully litigated many airbag defect and vehicle products defect, I am well aware that automotive airbags are supposed to deploy within milliseconds to protect lives and avoid catastrophic injuries in the event of an accident. An airbag is inflated by highly compressed gas commonly known as nitrous oxide and a metallic charger. Many times due to a sensor defect or due to a charger malfunction, the airbag does not deploy properly.

Over the last year, hundreds of thousands of motor vehicles were recalled in the United States for airbag defects including but not limited to low speed deployment, early deployment, late deployment, or non-deployment. The airbag was invented in the 1950's and have been consistently redesigned and developed in the 1970's to the present. Unfortunately as the number of airbags being placed in vehicles has increased, there seems to be a lack of quality in airbag manufacturing and installation as evidenced by the growing number of defect recalls.

With so many different types and manufacture of airbags in vehicles there seems to be an increasing potential of airbag malfunction or airbag failure. Airbags are supposed to prevent drivers and passengers from striking the steering column, dashboard, or windshield and to spread the force of the impact to avoid net trauma, fractures, injuries, paraplegia, quadriplegia, and damage to internal organs or wrongful death.

Our skilled Philadelphia airbag defect and auto defect product liability lawyers have determined that many vehicle and airbag manufacturers are taking cost cutting measures including but not limited to negligent installation, inadequate testing, and defective materials. The skilled and experienced Pennsylvania airbag defect lawyers and automotive product defect lawyers of Reiff & Bily believe that safety should never be an option and must always take priority over manufacturers bottom line and profitability. A catastrophic injury or wrongful death caused by an airbag defect can have a profound effect on the victim or their family. A catastrophic injury often requires lifelong care and rehabilitation and can cost millions of dollars. The experienced auto product liability and airbag defect lawyers of Reiff & Bily understand this complex area of law and have represented generations of Pennsylvanians since 1979. Consumer protection is our priority. We always offer a free, no obligation consultation. For more information, please contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

The Center for Auto Safety Claims that Jeep Cherokee model years 1993 through 2004 have a design defect, notably a defective fuel tank design, that can cause the gas tank to rupture in a crash. Clarence Ditlow, the Director for Auto Safety claims that these Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokees are the most dangerous vehicles on the road and additionally claims that at least 55 people have died in crashes where fire was the most harmful factor. The Center provided to the government crash test results revealing that the gas tanks failed in rear end impacts due to the fact that the fuel tank is located behind the rear axle.

As an experienced fuel fed fire and defective gas tank lawyer, I believe that placing the gas tank behind the rear axle is extraordinarily dangerous due to the fact that upon a rear impact, the tank can rupture and lead to fire and explosion. In crash tests, the fuel hoses pulled off and the tanks ruptured. Chrysler disputes the test results noting that the test impact conditions were three times as severe as the government standard and that the vehicle meets or exceeds federal standards.

As experienced auto defect and Pennsylvania product liability lawyers, we are well aware that many vehicle fires are caused by design defects, notably improper placement of the fuel tank. Highway vehicle fires account for 17% of all reported fires and 12% of all U.S. civilian deaths. The experienced Pennsylvania vehicle defect lawyers of Reiff & Bily have recently joined forces with the Pennsylvania product liability lawyers of the Beasley Firm and jointly have been awarded over $2 billion dollars on behalf of victims and their families who have sustained catastrophic injuries or wrongful death as a result of defective products, auto defects, and other catastrophic injury causes of action. Our lawyers have been litigating cases against automotive manufacturers for alleged design defects for decades. We always offer a free, no obligation confidential consultation and no recovery, zero fee guarantee. For more information contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As I have written for many months, the rental car market has a hidden danger lurking in it’s system. Namely, that no law exists for preventing cars to be rented without fixes, even after product recalls.

Approximately four months ago, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration first announced that approximately 3 million rental cars were being investigated in that they had been recalled for product defects. However, no action had been taken. It appeared then the rental companies were putting profitability over the safety of its renters and consumers. That initial recall included 29 models from General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Motor Company that had been sold to the rental car companies fleets. Recently General Motors and Chrysler informed NHTSA that tens of thousands of the recalled vehicles still had been unrepaired for months or longer.

Since automobile rental companies are some of the largest purchasers of motor vehicles from automobile manufacturers, news sources have indicated that Ford did not release its data concerning recalls, claiming that the release of their information may have a potential negative impact on its relationship with rental car companies could result in decreased sales of vehicles to those companies.

When you are on vacation you generally have your family and precious cargo of children with you and to think that there is no law currently requiring rental companies to make repairs to recalled vehicles before renting them or selling them to consumers is absolutely frightening and untenable.

As an experienced Pennsylvania automotive product liability, product defects, lawyer and consumer safety advocate, I query with NHTSA that “while dealers have a legal obligation not to sell a new vehicle after they have been notified of the recall by the manufacturer”, NHTSA does not have the legal authority to require consumers, including fleet owners like rental car companies, to have recalled vehicles fixed. In order to prevent the needless deaths of innocent victims unaware of defects on vehicles, I feel that there must be strict regulations with teeth and more pointed laws that address this dangerous practice.

Continue reading "The Car You Rent May Be Dangerous To Your Health And Safety - Experienced Auto Defect Lawyer Weighs In" »

Ford Motor Company recalled approximately 365,000 of their F-150 trucks on February 3, 2011.

According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the interior door handle housing unit could crack during routine use, resulting in inadequate spring tension to return the door handle back to a tightly closed position. That product defect could cause the truck door to open during a motor vehicle accident, ejecting the driver or passenger from the truck.

Our experienced automotive product liability and auto defect lawyers believe safety should never be an option, and recognizes that automobile manufacturers owe the highest duty of care to their customers and must be held accountable if a driver or loved one is injured in an accident due to their design failure.

Since 1979, the experienced Philadelphia wrongful death and automotive product liability law firm of Reiff & Bily has aggressively represented clients and their families who have been catastrophically injured or killed in automobile accidents or by defective products. Effective January 1, 2011 the Reiff & Bily law firm has joined forces with the legendary Beasley Firm in Philadelphia who since 1958 has been awarded over $2 billion dollars on behalf of their clients and have hundreds of millions and multi-million dollar verdicts, settlements, and awards to their credit. Please contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com for a free, no obligation consultation.

The experienced Pennsylvania car accident and Pennsylvania vehicle defect lawyers at Reiff & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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.