Did a Defect in Your Car Make Your Accident Worse?

 Posted on February 09, 2016 in Car Accidents

Every year thousands of people are severely injured, or even killed in car accidents. Sometimes, the cause of the injuries seems obvious. However, in some instances, a defect or malfunction in your car may have made your injuries worse than they otherwise would have been.

Discovering Automobile Defects

While some vehicles become notorious for their defects, other more routine defects pass through unknown to most people. While some SUVs are well known to have a higher risk of rollover rates or of roof crush injuries, for example, there are thousands of components in a car that may not be working properly that could make injuries in a car accident much worse.

Many times these defects will not be discovered unless a crash reconstruction expert examines the evidence. The expert may find that a seatbelt or airbag failed to work as designed. It may become clear that your injuries were really caused or exacerbated by something inside your own car.

Managing Complex Litigation

California law allows those who have been injured because of the negligence of others to recover money to compensate them for their injuries. In more simple car accidents this is a straightforward process. However, when another driver’s negligence caused an accident, but your injuries were made worse by a defect in the car, your case becomes much more complex.

In such case, you will have multiple defendants who could potentially owe you compensation. Each party may be more interested in blaming the other for your injuries than in paying you a fair settlement. Being able to establish that a part of your car was not only defective, but that it also caused your injuries, or made your injuries worse, will take a great deal of effort, expert reports and testimony, and a significant amount of paperwork.

Whenever even a single part of a car is found to be defective, the case may involve several different companies. In addition to the car manufacturer, there may be questions that need answered by suppliers, designers, and manufacturers of the component that caused the injuries. You will need an attorney who not only deeply understands personal injury law, but who also knows how to manage a complex case with multiple defendants and mountains of reports and paperwork.

If you were injured in a car accident, you need to speak with a skilled and experienced San Jose personal injury attorney right away. Call the Law Office of John J. Garvey, III today at 408-293-7777 to schedule a consultation. You may only have a short period of time to protect your rights.

Source:

https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/400/