Defective Seat Belt Accidents

It is a tragic and disruptive event when a car accident happens, but it could be made even worse if it is one where a defective seatbelt accident occurs. Although many of us assume that because a seatbelt is created to protect us in the event of an accident that a failure would never happen during an accident, but unfortunately that is not the case. In fact in many cases, a seat belt is actually meant to spool out during an impact thereby releasing the material on the belt and allowing a person to lurch forward and strike the dashboard, steering wheel or even the windshield. A defective seatbelt accident is primarily and obviously caused by defective safety belts of the vehicles. Just like everybody knows, a seat belt is meant to keep the person wearing it restrained in the event of an accident. It helps ensure that the driver and all passengers are remaining seated in the places they are supposed to be. In addition, a safety belt prevents its user from having a collision with the windshield or crashing into the side windows in the event of a car accident.

Defective seat belt accidents may cause a range of injuries from minor to major. Minor injuries include things like bruises, scratches or wounds. People who are involved in this kind of accident may just let it pass and go on with their lives as if nothing happened. However, injuries are not always minor. In some cases, a defective seat belt accident may cause severe trauma in the individuals who experienced it. Worse, their lives could have been taken in an instant if the seat belt failed to properly restrain them and they were either thrown from the vehicle or collided with the interior of the car. In these severe cases, it is normal for any victim to find someone to look for the responsible party who caused the death of a loved one or injury to themselves. It is for this reason that product liability law was ratified and implemented by various legislators from across the different parts of the United States. It is basically a directive which declares the manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers of defective seat belts as the parties responsible for the occurrence of a defective seat belt accident. However, the judicial bodies of the States ensure that anyone is innocent until proven guilty. Meaning, the people mentioned above will not be held liable for a defective seat belt accident unless they proven guilty.

So how does one go about filing a defective seatbelt lawsuit? There are three types of claims to which product liability law may apply: negligence, breach of warranty and strict liability. These are basically the grounds which, if found during an investigation, may declare a manufacturer, supplier, distributor or retailer of a defective seat belt responsible for the defective seat belt accident.

1. Negligence- When a manufacturer of seat belts fails to keep the promise of protecting and keeping consumers safe all the time while using their product, and they (consumers) end up suffering from injuries in a motor vehicle accident; it may be a case of negligence. Putting it simply, this specific claim applies when the manufacturer lacks the appropriate effort in making sure that the seat belt is of good quality, resulting in a defective seat belt accident.
2. Breach of Warranty- The next claim, breach of warranty, pertains to an instance wherein the seat belt does not meet the expectations of the people using it. This may be due to misleading marketing techniques. In most cases of breach of warranty, consumers have been deceived in order to sell the product. Some seat belt distributors and retailers will promise benefits which are not actually applicable to the item. If consumers believe the claims, they will expect certain things from the product; and since the marketing has been riddled with false promises, defective seat belt accidents can occur. This is considered a fraudulent activity and it may be a strong basis for a legal case under product liability law.
3. Strict Liability- The last claim is the strict liability. This can be a confusing matter as it is quite similar to negligence. However, the difference is easy to determine. In negligence, the inability of the seat belt manufacturer to provide a product with high quality is proven. Thus, it results in a failed product. With strict liability, it has been proven that the manufacturers did their part in making sure that the product will come out well; yet it became defective, resulting in a defective seat belt accident. Strict liability is basically caused by defects in three different fields: design, marketing and manufacturing. Design defects apply if the appearance of the seat belt could be dangerous. Example of which are pointed objects included in the product. Marketing defects basically refer to the instance when the marketers fail to warn consumers of the possible drawbacks of the seat belts. Lastly, manufacturing defects apply when it is the materials used in producing seat belts that are defective.

Product liability law is one of the most useful regulations enacted in the various states of the U.S. to protect consumers. Failure to comply with these laws may require the offenders to pay compensatory damages to those who are involved with defective seat belt accidents. If you've been involved in an accident where your seat belt was defective, please call us now for a free consultation.