Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are recalling millions of vehicles to fix brakes that could leak fluids and hamper stopping power.

Toyota is calling back and repairing 1.53 million Avalon, Highlander and Lexus vehicles. Honda said it was recalling an undetermined number of Acura sedans and Odyssey minivans. Toyota’s latest move follows a string of  recalls of more than 10 million cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans because of various defects.  

Unintended acceleration

Unintended acceleration reports resulted in a massive 2010 Toyota Vehicle Recall and suspension of production and sales of many Toyota models.

Stability – rollovers and roof crush

During the 1990s and early 2000s, there was an epidemic of accidents which involved the truck’s or car’s rolling over as a part of the behavior of the car in the incident. More concerning was the increasing number of “single car accidents” which involved rollovers.   The National Transportation Safety has recognized the danger of rollovers, and the prevalence of rollovers as a result of the defect created by the design of many SUVs. NHTSA has actively campaigned against this design defect and has adopted and promoted its Rollover Resistance Safety Rating, and has actively promoted the adoption of Electronic Stability Control systems.  

Roof crush injury risks are higher in vehicles with a greater propensity to roll over.  Because they are taller and narrower, SUVs, or sports utility vehicles, are three times more likely to roll over in an accident than are other passenger cars.  In 1973, the government passed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216, creating a standard roof strength test to measure the integrity of roof structure in motor vehicles.  Roof pillars appear strong to the average consumer, but most of them consist of just sheet metal that is hollow on the inside at the cross sections.  Much safer designs exist, at little cost, to reinforce these pillars.  Despite federal standards, many vehicle roofs will easily crush a foot or more during a rollover accident.  Roof crush kills or seriously injures tens of thousands of people every year.  A weak roof makes a vehicle defective, and roof crushes cause serious injuries, including brain and spinal injuries

Keeping occupants in their seats and protected

Car makers have been required to provide seat belts in passenger cars for many years.  The failure of seat belts – including the tendency to false latch – can cause or contribute to serious injury and death in what should have been a non-injurious accident.  Beside seat belts, the most important injury prevention devices in the car are front and side impact airbags and sometimes they fail or actually cause injuries because they don’t work as specified.  Many vehicle occupants are killed every year because they are ejected from a vehicle which has been involved in an accident because of a problem with a seat-belt, door, or window. 

Tires

The need for safe tires is obvious.   When a tire is defective and you encounter tread separation or sidewall failure often catatrophic accidents and injuries occur. 

The Hundley Law Firm is here to help if you or a loved one was injured because of a defective product.  Please call us for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights at at 310-348-8106.