Automotive Products Liability
Have you recently been hurt in an accident and you can’t figure out exactly what went wrong? This kind of situation may lead you to suspect that a product inside the car was defective. If this is true, you need a New York automobile product liability lawyer on the scene to help you as soon as possible. Automotive products liability attorneys handle cases that involve either a passenger or the driver of an automobile who has suffered critical injury or death as a result of defects in the automobile's design. Furthermore, a New York automotive products liability attorney will handle cases that are associated with the failure of a component part of the automobile like a seatbelt, tire or fuel tank.
In many of these liability cases, managed by an automotive product liability attorney in New York, the actual crash or the incident could have been caused by a negligent driver, but the failure of a vehicle component or the vehicle design is what ultimately caused the injuries to be elevated to the level of serious or fatal ones. If you have been injured in a collision that you think may have been caused by someone else, but you believe that your vehicle or its included safety components did not function as intended or promised, you may have grounds for an automotive product liability case. Even if you are not sure whether or not you have grounds for automotive product liability claim, it is beneficial to investigate the possibility.
This is because the recovery of full and fair compensation may only be possible after you have found all potentially liable parties for your injuries. The medical bills mounting after a critical accident caused by another driver or caused by a defective part can be extremely high and can add additional stress to an already problematic situation. This is just one more reason to schedule a consultation with an experienced attorney as soon as possible.
There are two very important things that you need to keep in mind as you move forward with an automotive product liability case. The first is that all possible steps should be taken to ensure that the vehicle as well as the components in and on the vehicle are maintained and are not dismantled, salvaged, lost or sold.
You need an attorney to investigate your potential claims and an expert should be retained as soon as possible to inspect the vehicle. If you think you have grounds for a product liability claim, the second thing to keep in mind is that you need to contact an attorney prior to the settling of any claims related to the incident. Settlements made with other parties like with insurance companies could impact your ability to keep evidence and to pursue a product liability theory case.
There are three primary types of defects that may be included in an automotive product liability case. The first is known as a designing defect, which involves claims that a product was designed by the manufacturer in a way that generated risk of harm and dangers that outweigh any of the benefits. A manufacturing defect, the second type of legal case which may be pursued, involves some type of omission or act during the manufacturing process that ultimately caused the product to fail when it was being used. Substandard practices in a plan are a common cause of these issue. The third type of defect case is a warning defect, which means that a product is unreasonably dangerous because it did not contain appropriate labels, instructions or warnings that made the user aware of the dangers or of the proper uses of the product. A common example of a failure to warn case is one in which a manufacturer knows about problems with a vehicle's condition, but fails to warn consumers through labels and instructions. If you find yourself in this position, prompt legal action with the assistance of an attorney may be the only way for you to move on with your life.