When you bought your vehicle, you expected all of its components and parts to work properly. After all, there are safety standards that the automotive industry must meet before a vehicle can leave the lot.
Unfortunately, manufacturers do not always meet those standards, and the resulting defects could put you and those who ride with you in your vehicle at risk for serious injury or even death. Even the most seemingly innocuous defects could result in that harm.
What kinds of defects happen most often?
Just about any part of your vehicle could be defective, but the following issues tend to occur more often than others do:
- Just about everyone has heard about the issue with the airbags in numerous types of vehicles. Millions of vehicles across the country became subject to recalls due to debris that caused serious injuries and even deaths when the airbags deployed. Even minor fender benders became tragedies due to Takata’s defective airbags. In other cases, an airbag may not deploy at all, whether from this manufacturer or another. In other instances, an airbag may deploy unexpectedly and lead to an accident.
- Defective door latch mechanisms led to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2014. It turned out that a defective spring could break. The door could have come open while the vehicle was in motion if the occupant leaned on it. In other cases, the door could bounce back and strike a person closing it from the outside.
- It’s not difficult to imagine that defective brakes could cause you significant problems while driving. The chances of you suffering injuries in a crash skyrocket if your brakes fail when you need them the most.
- If your seatbelt has a defect, it may not be there when you need it. Extensive research shows that wearing a seatbelt increases the chances of surviving a serious accident. If it should fail in those seconds that you need it, you could suffer significant injuries.
These are just some of the ordinary equipment on your vehicle that should always work properly, and when they don’t tragedies can happen.
What kinds of steps can you take?
If you end up suffering injuries or losing a loved one due to a defective part in your vehicle, you may benefit from gaining an understanding of your rights and legal options. You don’t have to travel this road alone, however. You could find the appropriate legal support to help you in this journey.