Crash Worthiness

Types of crash worthiness cases and Casey Gerry’s experience

Casey Gerry attorneys have dealt with crashworthiness cases for decades. One such case involved a young woman who was pregnant at the time of a collision, and experienced major physical trauma. In a collision the steering column of her vehicle pushed forward into her abdomen. Although she was fully seat-belted, the unborn fetus suffered significant injury, resulting in severe brain damage diagnosed at the child’s birth. Casey Gerry litigated extensively against the manufacturer, and we were able to obtain a result that has assured lifelong support for the young child.

In another case, a collision occurred between a motorcycle and a Volkswagen. The motorcycle intruded into the Volkswagen passenger compartment, causing catastrophic injuries to the driver. In an extensive trial, we were able to demonstrate that Volkswagen’s failure to provide a side bar in the passenger compartment made the vehicle highly dangerous for the occupants. We established that a simple side bar installed in the vehicle door could have prevented the intrusion of the motorcycle, and we were able to obtain a significant settlement for the injured driver.

Casey Gerry has litigated many cases in which seatbelts or air bags have failed to protect occupants of a vehicle. Our crashworthiness attorneys have seen young people suffer severe and disabling back injuries when traditional lap and cross-chest seatbelts were not supported by a shoulder belt. In the course of our research, we found that in Europe the manufacturer produced and sold the same vehicle with a three part belt. The manufacturer was fully aware that a two- part belt put the vehicle’s occupants at risk for far more serious injury. We were able to obtain successful results for those clients showing the manufacturer was violating its own internal standards that it had set for European countries.

We recently brought an action against KIA Motors Corporation in which both seats and seatbelts failed, causing the deaths of two young people. The KIA vehicle, driven on I-8 by a young couple, was hit a glancing blow in the rear end by a tractor trailer. Although both vehicles’ speeds were low, and the actual force of the impact was relatively minor, the seats in the Kia Vehicle buckled and collapsed backward. The collapse of the driver’s seat caused the driver to fall backward, and to lose contact with the pedals and the steering wheel. Out of control, the vehicle drifted to the shoulder and then rolled over. The seatbelts, of a design known for over 15 years to be dangerous, tore from their mounts. The young couple were both partially ejected during the rollover, and died from injuries suffered on impact. Their deaths were a direct result of the defective vehicle occupant protection system. The families of the victims received substantial compensation for their losses.

In this case, we were able to show in KIA’s own documents that they had violated their own internal standards. In many crashworthiness cases, we have found that manufacturers will create a sufficiently high standard of safety for themselves, but then fail to meet their own standard, resulting in serious injury or death to users of the vehicles.