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CASES & INVESTIGATIONS |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Seat Backs and
Their Role in Vehicle Safety |
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| Properly functioning seat
backs, in addition to seat belts, ensure that occupants
remain positioned upright in their seat during
the impact of a crash, along with providing the
passenger with back support and comfort. |
| Rear impact collisions
at speeds as low as 12 mph can, however, cause
some seat backs to collapse if the seat back
has a faulty design. When seat backs collapse,
occupants can be ejected, which may cause trauma
to the head or neck. Or, as a result of the
collapse, they can suffer serious spinal cord
injuries from impact with rear seat backs or
cargo. |
| Smartmotorist.com cited
one study of 23 rear impact crashes involving
front seat back collapses. This study showed
that in rear impact accidents, front seat passengers
are either partially or totally ejected from
their seat during impact in a majority of seat
back collapse incidents. |
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| Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP represents persons injured
in vehicle accidents. Click
here to submit your case. |
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| A significant precedent
was set for recovery of damages for injuries caused
by seat back collapses when in 2004 a jury entered
a $105.5 million verdict against DiamlerChrysler
in the suit of Flax v. DiamlerChrysler. |
| The case involved
an alleged faulty minivan seat back, that the
jury found caused the death of an infant in
2001. The 8 month-old passenger was killed
when his mother was ejected from her seat during
a crash due to a seat back collapse, which
caused her to fatally strike her child, who
was in a car seat behind her. |
| In March 2005, a jury
awarded $27 million to Connie Mikolajczyk for
the death of her husband, James, who was killed
in February 2000 when the 1996 Ford Escort
he was driving was rear-ended and his seat
collapsed backward, hurling him into the rear
of the car's cabin and fatally injuring him.
The jury found Ford and Mazda, who together
designed the Escort model, as well as the driver
that allegedly caused the accident, mutually
liable for his death. |
| In February 2005,
a Cumberland County, Tennessee jury found Ford
liable and awarded $7 million to Betty Potter.
Potter claimed that the seat in her Ford Explorer
collapsed during a crash, shooting her into
the backseat, severing her spinal cord and
leaving her a paraplegic. In April 2005, the
Tennessee appellate court upheld the jury verdict. |
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There
is no charge or obligation
for our
review of your case. |
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We
have a nationwide
team of experienced auto
defect and car accident
lawyers assigned
to our vehicle injury
cases. |
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We
have retained leading
national car crash
and auto defect experts. |
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We
have on staff a team
of
legal assistants, investigators
and nurses to assist
in the prosecution
of the claims of our
clients. |
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We
provide individual
attentive service.
Learn
more about our firm. |
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| In November 2003, a Maricopa
County, Arizona jury awarded Minnie Mae Douglas
$53.3 million in a suit against DaimlerChrysler.
Douglas was rendered quadriplegic after an accident
in 1999 in which the driver seat recliner bracket
of her Dodge Ram pickup broke, causing her to eject
backwards out of her seat and strike her head on
the cab roof. The case centered on structural weaknesses
in the BR/T-300 outer recliner bracket that exists
in 1995, 1996 and 1997 Dodge Ram extended cab models. |
| It is believed that through
confidential settlements, manufacturers have concealed
many other instances of defective seat backs which
collapsed and caused needless occupant injuries
and deaths. |
| If you have been injured,
or a loved one has been killed, in an accident
involving a collapsed seat back or other auto defect
and would like to learn more about your legal rights,
contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser by clicking
here. There is no charge or obligation for
our review of your case. |
| Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, is a national law firm of over 50 lawyers with offices in San Francisco,
New York and Nashville. Our attorneys are recognized
for the successful prosecution of lawsuits involving deaths, personal injuries
and property damage due to defective products, including in the field of vehicle
safety. |
| In 2007, in the case
of Mraz
v. DaimlerChrysler, Lieff Cabraser
attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained
the fourth largest verdict in California for
the year. At trial, plaintiffs showed that
a defective
transmission was responsible for making
a Dodge Dakota pickup shift into reverse and
run over Richard Mraz. |
| Currently, we are
prosecuting personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits involving cars, vans,
pickup trucks, SUVs, the Yamaha Rhino and other
vehicles. To learn more about the firm, click
here. |
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| Trademark Notice:
Vehicle Injuries.com is an electronic newsletter from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, a national personal injury attorney | lawyer law firm. |
| Lieff Cabraser is not
affiliated in any way with any trademark owner. The use of any trademarks on
this site is for product identification and information purposes only. |
| About Lieff Cabraser:
Drivers and passengers injured in auto crashes and pickup truck and SUV rollover
accidents, or families of loved ones who died, may be eligible to file lawsuits
against other drivers at fault or against the manufacturer of their vehicle if
the accident was due to a safety defect. Safety defects can include a high risk
of rolling
over, tire tread
separation, seat
belt failures and other defects. Learn
more... |
| We have offices in San
Francisco, New York and Nashville.
Our car crash accident lawyers and auto accident attorneys have represented
clients in personal injury, auto accident, SUV rollover and vehicle safety defect
lawsuits across America, including persons living in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,
Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. |
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hiring of an auto accident lawyer is an important decision. Please read our attorney
advertising disclaimer. |
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| Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP |
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