Americans, including Missouri residents, rely heavily on their cars to get them from one place to another. Missouri is a large state and without personal motor vehicles, people couldn’t get to their work or to their homes. In order to travel safely by cars, people rely on other drivers. They trust that other drivers are paying attention to the roadways and are not engaging in dangerous behavior behind the wheel.
However, people also place their trust in car manufacturers. They trust that safety mechanisms in the car are in place and working. This includes important safety features like seatbelts and airbags. These safety features are supposed to help keep people safe should a serious car accident occur. Sadly, auto product makers cannot be trusted any more than other drivers can. Auto part defects are common and often cause serious injuries. In these cases, an auto product liability suit might be necessary to hold these companies responsible.
Recently, car makers Nissan and Toyota have expanded product recalls relating to defective automobile parts. In these cases, airbags in certain vehicles have defects that cause the bags to explode. These explosions have caused both injuries and deaths in the United States and around the world. These air bags were made by Takata, a Japanese car parts company. Takata’s airbags have been suspected in causing injuries in several models of cars for the last several years.
In the latest recall, Toyota is recalling five million cars worldwide, while Nissan is recalling 1.56 million cars. The Nissan models were produced between 2004 and 2008, whereas the Toyota cars were produced between 2003 and 2007.
When consumers are injured by defective car parts, they need to understand their right to compensation. A negligent manufacturer can be held liable in a civil suit.
Source: Yahoo News, “Toyota, Nissan recall 6.5 mn cars over exploding airbag fears,” May 13, 2015