Nov 16 2008
Seat Back Failure
Most parents know they should keep young children out of the front seats of cars because of the dangers of too-large seatbelts and airbags. But in some vehicles, the back seats aren’t safe in an accident either, due to a phenomenon known as seatback failure. In an accident, most often a rear-end accident, the mechanism holding up the back of a bucket seat can break, causing the seat to collapse and the occupant to fall backwards violently. Accident records show that this can happen even in minor collisions, at speeds as low as 25 miles per hour, if the seatback is defectively flimsy.
At high speeds, these defective seat backs pose a threat to the occupant of the defective seat, who are thrown away from the safety of seatbelts and airbags and may suffer serious head, neck and spine injuries. But even at low speeds, a defective seatback is extremely dangerous for children who may be safely strapped in behind the failed bucket seat. Hit with great force by a flying seat or their own parent’s body, children placed in backseats by safety-conscious parents can be killed or suffer permanently disabling brain injuries, internal injuries or amputations.
Nearly every major auto manufacturer in the United States has been accused in a court of law of manufacturing unsafe, flimsy seat backs that are prone to fail in a rear-end accident. Many manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and others, have known for decades that their bucket seats could not withstand the amount of force generated by a typical rear-end accident. Despite this, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bowing to industry pressure, has not updated regulations on how strong a seat back in a brand-new vehicle must be since 1967 an oversight that even the agency acknowledges is inadequate.
If a defective seatback has brought death or serious injury into your life and the lives of your loved ones, you have the right to hold the manufacturer legally liable. An experienced seat back failure attorney can help you recover compensation for injuries including wrongful death, brain and spine trauma, medical bills, lost wages, disability, scarring, and pain and suffering.