Auto Defects

Automakers Have a Legal Duty to Design Their Vehicles to Protect Occupants in a Crash

Whether you are a driver or passenger, you have the right to expect the vehicles that you travel in to be safely designed and to have all necessary features to protect you in the event of a crash. Yet, after an auto accident most people tend to focus on who is at fault, rather than whether an auto defect played a role in the injuries sustained by the driver and/or passengers. Whenever a person sustains a serious injury or death in a motor vehicle crash, vehicle defects MUST be investigated as a potential cause.

What Are Auto Defect Cases?

Auto defect cases, also referred to as crashworthiness claims, are automotive product liability lawsuits for serious injury and death. These claims are brought when a vehicle’s unsafe design or absence of necessary safety features fails to adequately protect the driver or passengers in a foreseeable crash. Some of these defects, such as an airbag’s failure to deploy, can be obvious. But some defects, such as the failure of a collision avoidance system to operate as designed, are more subtle.

Auto defect cases generally fall into nine major categories:

  • Fuel Tank Design
  • Airbag deployment
  • Rollover/Roof Crush/Vehicle Stability
  • Seat Design/Restraints
  • Tire Defects
  • Child Safety Seats
  • 15 Passenger Vans
  • Structural Integrity
  • Collision Avoidance Systems

At Feldman Shepherd, we have the knowledge and resources to investigate your accident and determine whether a defective vehicle component or system caused the accident or made the injuries worse than they otherwise would have been. We have a team of attorneys dedicated to this distinct area of legal practice, and they work closely with experts in automotive design, accident reconstruction, biomechanics, federal regulations, and specialized vehicle crash testing to hold all culpable parties accountable for your injuries.

Trial Lawyers for Life’s Most Challenging Moments

For more than 30 years, Feldman Shepherd has been achieving multimillion-dollar recoveries in auto defect cases, including eight-figure results in cases that other law firms turned down. We litigate auto defect cases nationwide and travel across the U.S. on many occasions to personally inspect vehicles following a collision.

Feldman Shepherd is one of only a few law firms that has gone the distance in high-stakes litigation against the auto industry. Automakers have formidable lawyers and unlimited money to defend against these complex claims. For obvious reasons, they are not eager to acknowledge that their vehicles could have been better designed to prevent serious injury or death. Their attorneys are prepared to take a case to verdict, and so are we.

When you need help following a catastrophic car accident, you can trust the Feldman Shepherd team to make your best interests our top priority.

Call us to learn how we can help you with your auto defects case at (877) 595-9761.

Automakers Have a Legal Duty to Design Their Vehicles to Protect Occupants in a Crash

Whether you are a driver or passenger, you have the right to expect the vehicles that you travel in to be safely designed and to have all necessary features to protect you in the event of a crash. Yet, after an auto accident most people tend to focus on who is at fault, rather than whether an auto defect played a role in the injuries sustained by the driver and/or passengers. Whenever a person sustains a serious injury or death in a motor vehicle crash, vehicle defects MUST be investigated as a potential cause.

What Are Auto Defect Cases?

Auto defect cases, also referred to as crashworthiness claims, are automotive product liability lawsuits for serious injury and death. These claims are brought when a vehicle’s unsafe design or absence of necessary safety features fails to adequately protect the driver or passengers in a foreseeable crash. Some of these defects, such as an airbag’s failure to deploy, can be obvious. But some defects, such as the failure of a collision avoidance system to operate as designed, are more subtle.

Auto defect cases generally fall into nine major categories:

  • Fuel Tank Design
  • Airbag deployment
  • Rollover/Roof Crush/Vehicle Stability
  • Seat Design/Restraints
  • Tire Defects
  • Child Safety Seats
  • 15 Passenger Vans
  • Structural Integrity
  • Collision Avoidance Systems

At Feldman Shepherd, we have the knowledge and resources to investigate your accident and determine whether a defective vehicle component or system caused the accident or made the injuries worse than they otherwise would have been. We have a team of attorneys dedicated to this distinct area of legal practice, and they work closely with experts in automotive design, accident reconstruction, biomechanics, federal regulations, and specialized vehicle crash testing to hold all culpable parties accountable for your injuries.

Trial Lawyers for Life’s Most Challenging Moments

For more than 30 years, Feldman Shepherd has been achieving multimillion-dollar recoveries in auto defect cases, including eight-figure results in cases that other law firms turned down. We litigate auto defect cases nationwide and travel across the U.S. on many occasions to personally inspect vehicles following a collision.

Feldman Shepherd is one of only a few law firms that has gone the distance in high-stakes litigation against the auto industry. Automakers have formidable lawyers and unlimited money to defend against these complex claims. For obvious reasons, they are not eager to acknowledge that their vehicles could have been better designed to prevent serious injury or death. Their attorneys are prepared to take a case to verdict, and so are we.

When you need help following a catastrophic car accident, you can trust the Feldman Shepherd team to make your best interests our top priority.

Call us to learn how we can help you with your auto defects case at (877) 595-9761.

A Philadelphia jury returned a verdict worth roughly $5.6 million in a class action lawsuit involving allegations that thousands of models of the Kia Sephia sedan had defective brake systems. According to plaintiff’s  attorneys in Samuel-Bassett v. Kia Motors America, Inc., the Pennsylvania-only class included …
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Following 2 ½ weeks of trial in a Philadelphia courtroom, attorneys Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J. Mann, and Edward S. Goldis arrived at a substantial settlement in an auto defect/crashworthiness case. The plaintiff, a 59-year-old plant supervisor, was operating his 1987 Ford F150 pickup truck …
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Attorneys Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J. Mann, and Edward S. Goldis represented a young man who was a rear seat-belted occupant of a passenger car. While speeding and attempting to negotiate a curve in the roadway, the driver lost control of the vehicle, crossed the …
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The plaintiffs were traveling on a highway in a rented SUV with the 53 year old father driving, his wife  in the passenger seat, and their three teenage daughters seated in the rear. The SUV was equipped with a rollover sensing airbag system, and was …
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