Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Over the years, airbags have become a mandatory safety device in all new cars. There is no question that along with using a seat belt, many lives have been saved due to airbags. Airbags are meant to prevent the occupant's head from striking a part of the vehicle and spread the force of the impact across their body. Due to the speed of airbag deployment and the chemicals used, there is always the possibility that airbags do more harm than good. Believe it or not, airbags often do not operate properly causing serious injury and deaths that could have easily been prevented. Philadelphia product liability lawyer Jeffrey Reiff and the experienced Pennsylvania product liability lawyers at Reiff & Bily have been researching and handling automotive and defective airbag cases for many years.

Airbags were developed in the 1950’s, but it was not until the 1980’s that airbags became mandatory in new cars. The driver’s airbag is found within the steering wheel, which protects the driver from hitting the wheel or dashboard. During an auto accident, four collisions may occur: (1) between the vehicle and the other object; (2) between the occupants (restrained or unrestrained) and the interior of the vehicle; (3) between the occupants’ organs and the enclosing body wall or cavity (such as the brain and skull); and (4) between occupant(s) and any loose objects in the vehicle.

Airbags and seatbelts are meant to protect collisions between the occupant(s) and the interior of the car. Airbags work when the car decelerates very quickly, as during a collision, and a sensor triggers a chemical reaction that produces a non-toxic gas that inflates the airbag. When the airbag deflates, dust and gasses are released into the car. These gasses and dust can cause asthma, chemical injuries (burns), or other irritations and breathing problems. The entire process of inflating and deflating the airbag takes less than a second.

Airbags need to react extremely fast to a collision, especially if an occupant is not wearing a seat belt. Airbags can deploy at over 200 MPH to protect an unrestrained occupant. Since airbags have to deploy so fast, injuries could occur from the extreme speed at which the airbag inflates. Injuries can occur to the eyes, head, chest, or limbs and could result in scaring, paralysis, blindness, loss of hearing, broken bones, severance of a body part, or even death.

Continue reading " Airbags: Possible Injury in Preventative Safety " »

There is nothing quite like taking a short trip to the grocery store and coming back to your car engulfed in flames. It could even happen in your own driveway or garage, day or night. It is being reported by AutoWeek Magazine that Ford is still having some cruise control fire-causing issues. Ford has recalled almost twelve million vehicles since 1999 to repair the fire-prone defective cruise control system and recently reiterated the recall of 9.6 million cars and trucks on its web site. It is reported by the Detroit News that Federal regulators are looking into 130 complaints that fires occurred in the engine compartments of Ford Windstar mid-size vans from the 1995-2003 model years. The fires can occur either during use or while parked.

Continue reading " The Hidden Danger of Fire May Be Lurking in Your Automobile " »

With summer and beautiful weather approaching, pool use is on the rise. With proper pool use comes safety to prevent hazards. Drowning is the number two accidental injury-related killer of children ages one to fourteen. There are approximately 260 drowning deaths of children younger than age five each year in the swimming pools and an estimated 2,725 children are treated annually in hospital emergency rooms for pool submersion injuries, mostly in residential pools. One relatively unknown hazard, especially for children, is drain entrapment. Twenty-nine percent of people who own a pool are not at all familiar with entrapment, while thirty-seven percent are somewhat familiar. Entrapment can occur in a private or home pool, public pool, or spa/hot tub.

Continue reading " Is Your Swimming Pool Safe? Hidden Danger Lies in Unprotected Drains " »

On May 2, 2008, the Toyota Motor Company recalled 90,000 Highlander Sport Utility vehicles in the United States for seatbelt defects. This involves vehicles built between last May and March of 2008 to repair problems with the seatbelt that could leave rear-facing child seats unsecured. The Toyota Company ordered a “stop sale" of all 2008 Highlander SUVs and Hybrid versions with third row seats to retrofit changes to the seatbelt.

The Philadelphia personal injury law firm of Law Firm of Reiff & Bily. has long investigated complaints by owners of Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Toyota and Nissan motor vehicles and 15-passenger vans concerning defective seatbelt latch plates and defective seat and child seat design. These latch plates are designed to keep child safety seats securely in place by keeping a lapbelt tight around the safety seat. Often times, the latch plates do not connect firmly or loosen, no longer keeping the child seat firmly in place. This defect creates a safety hazard for children in the child seat because a loose seatbelt may permit the seat to move forward or to the side during a sudden stop or an accident. This hazard is usually hidden because the latch plate breaks and the spot is not visible unless the plate is turned over and inspected, and/or because it is difficult to tell that the latch plate broke in such a manner. In a proper crash worthy designed vehicle, seatbelts and other safety systems are supposed to minimize the destructive effect of forces by distributing these forces over the greatest period of time possible and over the largest surface area possible to the parts of the body that are most capable of withstanding the forces.

Continue reading " Recall for Seatbelt Defects " »