Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Eric Polston, the operator of a 1998 Ford Windstar van, swerved to avoid a dog, causing the van to roll over. Although Polston was wearing a seat belt, he was ejected from the vehicle during the rollover and was paralyzed. As a result of the accident, he was rendered a tetraplegic with partial use of his hands and arms. A product liability action was filed focusing on the design of the seat belt buckle, particularly the release button housed within the buckle restraint system.

The design utilized by Ford featured a protruding button. The top of the button is located above the top of the buckle housing permitting easier access to the button. The protrusion of the button renders the design of the buckle defective and unreasonably dangerous because it presents an unnecessary hazard for inadvertent release. Ford’s release button for their seatbelt buckles was designed primarily to address aesthetics. A protruding button design increases the risk for accidental or inadvertent release of the seatbelt. Since the design was manufactured by TRW, it was supplied not only on a number of Ford vehicles but also other manufacturers as well. By the late 1990s, the entire industry, including Ford, started moving away from the protruding buckle to a safer design with a flush button. (Top release can still be dangerous and inadvertently release.) When the jury's verdict came in, one of the things Eric was most thrilled about was the jury's vindication about his seatbelt use.

The Pennsylvania vehicle defect lawyers of Reiff & Bily have represented victims who have sustained catastrophic injuries and wrongful death as a result of defectively designed automobile restraint systems including but not limited to airbag defects, seatbelt defects, door latch deficiencies, non-use of laminated glass and defective seat backs.