Finding out that a loved one has passed away in a car-related accident can be extremely devastating. The suddenness of the event and the questions of how and why can overwhelm loved ones. After a person has been put to rest, it may be time to start answering those questions. A person’s death could have been related to a car defect, the type addressed by product liability claims, rather than the negligence of another driver.
Car accident deaths based on a malfunction of a vehicle are legally treated as strict liability claims. Strict liability is kind of what it sounds, as it means one can hold the manufacturer of a product accountable due to the dangerous nature of the product they produce. Regardless of what steps a manufacturer or dealer says it takes in designing, assembling, or handling a motor vehicle, you can make a strict liability claim based on a motor vehicle defect, without making any showing as to carelessness or negligence on their behalf.
Three things must be present in the car accident injury or death in order to prove a strict liability claim. The vehicle has an unreasonably dangerous defect that injured caused a fatal accident affecting a loved one due to design, manufacturing, handling or a failure to warn. In turn, that defect occurred during a time of proper use of the vehicle, and the vehicle had not been substantially changed from the condition in which it was originally sold at the time of the incident. Many aspects of a vehicle could go wrong, from the tires on up to the power steering.
While it isn’t easy to predict how and when a vehicle defect will claim a life. If a loved one died in a strange way in their vehicle, the quality of the vehicle could be to blame. A full investigation can help to determine where this defect may have affected the vehicle. Then bringing suit against the appropriate party could bring damages for the loss of their loved one.
Source: injury.findlaw.com, “Car Defect Injury Claims,” Accessed October 23, 2017
