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May, 2006: Interesting New Legal Developments


September 22, 2006
Topic: Ricci~Leopold Podcast

TRANSCRIPT:
May 2006 Ricci~Leopold Seat & Seat Belt Safety Podcast    (10:30)

This is the May 2006 Ricci~Leopold Podcast. My name is Spencer Kuvin, an attorney at Ricci~Leopold, and this month I will be talking to you about a number of interesting new legal developments which include:

  • BREAKING NEWS
  • Child Safety Seats Awareness
  • Recalls & Reporting Safety Seat Hazards
  • Beware of Lap-Only Belts
  • The Dangers of Inertial Valves
  • ODI REPORT

BREAKING NEWS!!
(content attached)

Next -  Child Safety Seats
The most important purchase you will ever make for your child is a child safety seat. Did you know that each year more than 1,200 children under the age of 13 are killed in cars; about half are under the age of 5. Did you know that child safety seat misuse rates are 85 to 90% nationally? Florida's statewide safety belt usage rate is 76.3%. This means that nearly one-quarter of all Florida parents are putting their children at needless risk because they fail to properly install child safety seats.  According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, over 60 percent of the vehicle occupants killed (which excludes pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists), during 2003 were unbuckled. Did you know there are five types of seats - infant seats, convertible seats, toddler seats, booster seats and built-in child seats.

Recalls & Reporting Safety Seat Hazards
Only about one in five seats that are recalled for a problem are actually returned or repaired. If you have a question whether a seat has been recalled or discover a safety seat hazard, report it immediately to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at (800) 424-9393. And if your seat needs to be recalled, make sure it is repaired or replaced!

Beware of Lap-Only Belts
Although the government now requires new cars to have lap/shoulder belts on non-center seats, there are more than 100 million vehicles still on the road with lap-only belts in the rear seats. This is especially dangerous for children because they are seated primarily in the center of the rear seat. In a crash, lap-only belts can ride up and over the pelvis and cause severe abdominal and spinal cord injuries. To retrofit a car with a three-point belt, visit an auto dealer. Kits are available on most cars but vary in price depending on the make or model.

Properly designed safety belts should restrain the occupants by preventing or minimizing their violent movement within the vehicle or from it, preventing or minimizing their risk of hitting damaging structures in the vehicle and making all interior structures as forgiving as possible in the event of impact.

With the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)  and introduction of mandatory belt usage laws in most states during the 1980s, seat belt usage in America has risen to more than 50 percent. As a consequence, tens of millions of people now wearing their seat belts, are buckling up with deficient, defective, damaging or deteriorating belts. One of the most egregious defects is the Rear Seat Lap-Only Belts.

In the late 1980s the severe danger of rear seat lap belts was first identified. Often, unbelted front seat occupants in frontal collisions survived with minor injuries while back seat passengers restrained by lap-only belts suffered paraplegia, head injury and, in some instances, death. Children are particularly susceptible to this danger. Their delicate muscular and skeletal structures, coupled with the frequencies of children seated in the back seats of cars, exposes them to rear lap belt injury.

The Dangers of Inertial Valves
Do your vehicle's seat belts have inertial valves? Over 100 million cars in America have seat belts with the release button on the front face of the buckle - this is an inertial unlatching valve. In some frontal collisions, rollovers and side impacts, the release mechanism can be initially disengaged when the back of the buckle hits a hard part of the seat structure or of the human body such as the iliac crest of the pelvic bone or hip. While manufacturers deny the existence of the defect, crash test film in the public domain at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) clearly shows the belt unlatching in frontal collisions. Since 1990, there have been several landmark cases against American and Japanese manufacturers for this defect. The issue received national attention on September 9, 1992, when it was explored by CBS News.

ODI Report
As a new feature in the Ricci~Leopold podcast we will be informing you about the most recent investigations underway with the National Highway Traffic and Safety office of defect investigation inquiries.

This month  - IN A LETTER DATED AUGUST 5, 2005, TOYOTA SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT TO NHTSA REGARDING A DEFECT CONDITION THAT COULD RESULT IN SEPARATION OF FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINTS IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2002-2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA AND SEQUOIA, 2001-2004 TOYOTA TACOMA AND 2001-2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER VEHICLES. ACCORDING TO TOYOTA, A "MANUFACTURING ISSUE" WITH THE SUBJECT BALL JOINTS COULD RESULT IN SCRATCHING OF THE SURFACE OF THE BALL, WHICH COULD RESULT IN ACCELERATED WEAR OF THE JOINT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF JOINT SEPARATION. TOYOTA INDICATED THAT THE SCRATCHING CONDITION AFFECTED LOWER BALL JOINTS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN MAY 2001 AND OCTOBER 2003. THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION HAS RECEIVED 4 COMPLAINTS ALLEGING A TOTAL OF 5 FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATION INCIDENTS WHILE DRIVING, CAUSING THE DRIVERS TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLES. THE FOUR COMPLAINANT VEHICLES WERE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF RECALL 05V-225. ONE COMPLAINT ALLEGED LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATIONS INVOLVING BOTH FRONT WHEELS WITHIN A FOUR MONTH PERIOD. THE SEPARATION INCIDENTS OCCURRED AT REPORTED MILEAGES OF 52,000, 70,595, 80,000 AND 116,000. A RECALL QUERY HAS BEEN OPENED TO DETERMINE ANY POTENTIAL SAFETY-RELATED CONSEQUENCES AND THE SCOPE OF THE AFFECTED POPULATION.

Also on April 20, 2006 DaimlerChrysler advised NHTSA of a problem with the Powertrain clutch assembly in the Jeep Wrangler.  THE THREE VEHICLE OWNER QUESTIONNAIRES RECEIVED BY ODI REPORT THAT THE CLUTCH LINKAGE FAILURES OCCURRED AT LOW MILEAGES (LESS THAN 2,000 MILES) AND LOW SPEEDS (TWO OCCURRED WHILE STOPPED, ONE OCCURRED AT 5 MPH). THE REPORTS ALLEGE THAT THE OPERATOR WAS PRESSING ON THE CLUTCH PEDAL WHEN THE PEDAL SUDDENLY LOST RESISTANCE (FELL LOSE) AND THE CLUTCH ENGAGED, AFTER WHICH THE PEDAL WAS NO LONGER CAPABLE OF RELEASING THE CLUTCH. A NOISE FROM UNDER THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OCCURRENCE. THE COMPLAINANTS FURTHER ALLEGE THAT A COMPONENT IN THE CLUTCH LINKAGE SYSTEM (A PLASTIC DEVICE LOCATED AT OR NEAR THE CLUTCH PEDAL LEVER) WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. NO CRASHES OR INJURIES ARE REPORTED. A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN OPENED TO ESTABLISH THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY AND CONSEQUENCES OF THESE FAILURES

Thank you for listening to the Ricci~Leopold Podcast where the pursuit of justice is our goal. To learn more about the issues discussed in this podcast as well as information on other types of consumer protection issues, please visit our website at riccilaw.com.

Please remember that the hiring of a lawyer is an important decision which should not be made solely on the content of advertising or this podcast.

 

Attachments:
MayPodcast.mp3


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