Waco Personal Injury Lawyer - Automobile Defects

IIHS: Headrests Not Providing Adequate Protection

Craig Cherry — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 08:46:10 GMT

Crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show headrests in many vehicles on the road today are not providing adequate protection to drivers and passengers. Out of seventy-five (75) seat head-restraint designs that were tested by the IIHS, only twenty-two (22) rated as good.

The remaining fifty-three (53) designs rated marginal or poor. According to the results of the study:

The latest evaluations also show the seat head restraints in more than 60-percent of car models fall short of current state-of-the-art protection from neck injury or whiplash.

Currently, the IIHS estimates that rear-end collisions account for two million insurance claims each year, costing at least $8.5 billion. The IIHS has also concluded that it is not difficult or expensive to design better seat/head restraints.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Ford Recalls Police Cars With Defective Wheels

Craig Cherry — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:03:17 GMT

Ford Motor Company is in the process of recalling nearly 110,000 Crown Victoria police cruisers as a result of a wheel defect. The wheel defect can cause a rapid loss of tire pressure during high-speed pursuits due to cracks developing in the steel wheels.

The recall affects only certain 2003-2005 year model Crown Victorias. According to Ford, the wheel defect has been linked to at least two crashes involving police vehicles. Ford said owners of the subject Crown Victorias will be notified if their police vehicles fall within the recall and, if so, they will need to take the vehicles to their dealer to have the wheels inspected and replaced.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Chrysler Recalls Nearly 500,000 Vehicles

Craig Cherry — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 07:23:56 GMT

Yesterday, Chrysler recalled nearly a half-million vehicles for a variety of reasons. After receiving over sixty reports of fires in 2004-2006 Dodge Durango SUVs, the SUVs are being recalled due to electrical overloads that are repeatedly occurring in the driver's side instrument panel below the dashboard.

The recall will involve more than 328,000 Dodge Durango SUVs. Chrysler is also recalling more than 149,000 2006-2007 Jeep Liberty SUVs to fix the heating-ventilation-air conditioning blower motor. Chrysler has received at least a dozen reports of fires from Jeep Liberty owners. In addition to the Dodge Durango and Jeep Liberty vehicles, Chrysler will recall nearly 11,000 2008 Dodge Avengers to correct problems with the front driver and passenger door latches.

If you have a Chrysler vehicle that fits within the year and model above, you should contact your dealer and find out what you need to do to get the recall fix completed as soon as possible.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

81,000 Honda Accords Recalled by NHTSA

Christina Cole — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:46:03 GMT

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered a recall on 81,000 - 2004 and 2005 model year Honda Accords due to an unsafe driver's side airbag seat positioning sensor.

The seat positioning sensor detects the drivers seating position and adjusts the airbag pressure. On some of the Honda's wiring harnesses, the sensor was attached to the seat frame in the wrong location which can cause them to malfunction.

Regardless of the seating position, the airbag system will default to full inflation pressure which can increase the risk of airbag causing injury to smaller drivers in a crash, according to NHTSA.

If the seat positioning sensor is broken, the airbag warning light will turn on.

Dealers will replace the seat position sensor wiring sub-harness when the recall begins in February. Honda Accord owners may contact NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236 or call Honda at 1-800-999-1009.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole