California Woman Paid Compensation For Injuries

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Jessica Navarro

A California woman suffered serious injuries and left her a quadriplegic following an automobile accident. According to a report on the website personalinjurybureau.com, the woman was driving a 1997 Ford Explorer when the left-rear tire separated from the tire tread and caused the woman to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle veered off the road and rolled over into an embankment.

 

The woman’s attorney submitted evidence that Ford Motor Company failed to maintain the safety of the vehicle when they did not pay for improvements on the Explorer model. Ford engineers had discovered ways to improve safety and stability on the vehicle but did not make any changes to the vehicle. Attorneys on behalf of Ford Motor Company argued that a worn-out tire was the cause of the accident and not any defects in the vehicle itself. Nonetheless, the jury in the lawsuit Castillo filed came to a unanimous decision in Castillo’s favor and she was paid $23.4 million in damages from Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company argued that they will be appealing the decision, however, the report states no attempts have been made as of yet.

Vehicle manufacturers have been given much negative press for causing accidents as a result of defects or malfunctions in the design of the vehicle. This incident is one of many lawsuits that car makers have faced due to injuries to consumers resulting from flaws ranging from tire damage to overall frame damage.

 
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Hewlett Packard Laptop Battery Recall Expanded

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Jessica Navarro

Informationweek.com has a report stating that computer maker Hewlett Packard has increased the number of laptop batteries that they are recalling from 70,000 up to 124,000 units. In the original recall, HP had received numerous complaints of batteries overheating and rupturing and following the recall extension, 38 more incidents had been reported. 

The report states that in 11 of those cases, the batteries had caused minor bodily harm to users and 31 of those cases caused minor property damage. The faulty batteries had been sold by HP and other electronic retailers between August 2007 and July 2008. The report states consumers will get a replacement battery free of charge.

According to the report, battery recalls are a common occurrence, especially for HP as they had issued recalls between 2005 and 2008. This news report demonstrates that product recalls are not only affecting automakers at a drastic rate but other industries as well. Faulty products are a common occurrence for all industries and the subsequent costs that the companies incur as a result of the recalls could be well over hundreds of millions of dollars over time. However, it is important for companies to make these recalls in order to prevent danger to customers. Although in this case the injuries have been minimal, it does not imply that all incidents will be minor ones. It is always possible for a serious injury to occur regardless of what the faulty product is and the nature of the defects or malfunctions.

For more information on recalls and other product liability issues, visit Solomon & Relihan's Product Liability information page.

 
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