Early-on in the development of automobiles, drivers were considered responsible for vehicle accidents and not much thought was given to the safety of the vehicles themselves. Since it was thought that drivers were responsible for accidents, drivers also were thought to be responsible for injuries.
The vehicles as well as the government weren't assumed to play much of a role in keeping drivers and passengers safe. Attempts to improve safety were directed at efforts to improve driving behavior.
Poor Manufacturing Design Comes into Play
But, as early as the 1930s, a few engineers and emergency room physicians were becoming alarmed at an increasingly clear correlation between crash injuries and poor and unsafe auto designs. They began to encourage car manufacturers to assume some responsibility for injuries in crashes due to design defects in their cars. The auto industry generally ignored their suggestions for improving its products such as installing:
- Seatbelts
- Windshields that reduced lacerations
- Interiors that absorbed the force of an accident
This was despite the fact that the technology existed. The industry continued to fend off demands that it make safety changes voluntarily.
The Government Steps In
As injuries continued to mount, the federal government began to take notice. During the late l950s, the House of Representatives undertook a series of investigations. These led in the mid-1960s to Senate hearings. Auto industry executives failed to resist laws for regulating new vehicle safety.
At the Senate hearings, experts in auto safety and injuries such as engineers and physicians testified about the vehicle-caused injuries that their passengers were sustaining. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. It established the authority of the federal government to regulate the safety of new vehicles.
The legislation required the establishment of safety standards for minimum performance but not for design. As an example, the standard might specify the minimum force a seatback can withstand, but not specify the design.
The Right to Sue
However, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act took into account the fact that it would take more than laws to enforce safe design. The act said, "Compliance with any Federal motor vehicle safety standard . . . does not exempt any person from any liability under common law."
Keeping Car Companies in Line
This essentially meant that even if a vehicle met the federal safety standards, a victim could sue the manufacturer for injuries caused by design defects. The ability of crash victims to sue auto manufacturers helps to keep car companies in line in terms of manufacturers developing the safest designs they can.
Manufacturing defects can result from any poorly made part of a vehicle. Defective design can apply to almost any part of a vehicle that detracts from its crashworthiness. This can include design defects of the:
- Tires
- Brakes
- Roof
- Car frame
- Fuel system
- Windows
- Doors
- Seats and seatbacks
- and the myriad other parts that constitute a car
Poor design can cause a broken leg or result in severe injuries such as quadriplegia. If you've been injured in a crash resulting from a poorly designed vehicle, you should take the manufacturer to court. You deserve the right to fair compensation for your injuries, your pain and suffering, and the expense of your ordeal.
Contact a Chicago Auto Defects Attorney
The Chicago auto accident attorneys at Pfaff & Gill Ltd. specialize in helping victims of car accidents. They represent individuals in a number of Chicago auto accident cases, including those caused by defective auto parts and inadequate repairs.
Contact us for a review of your case.
