Consumer Rights Against Auto Defects and Crashworthiness

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 3-36 years old. While driver behavior is often the cause for car crashes, a motor vehicle’s crashworthiness and the presence of possible auto defects are still two very important considerations in transportation safety.

Crashworthiness

Crashworthiness refers to the ability of a vehicle to protect its occupants during impact while auto defects on the other hand may refer to either the parts of the car or the design of the car which have either a manufacturing or a design defect. It is the responsibility of car manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and other parties involved in providing the vehicle to the public such as automobile parts manufacturers to ensure that their product is safe.

Defective Auto Parts

Considering the fact that motor vehicle crash statistics are far from favorable, it is extremely important that they make sure the vehicles they put on the market could stem the loss of life and limb and not add to the risk. Often, when a motor vehicle has defective parts, the crashworthiness may also be affected. For example, a weak roof is not crashworthy because it increases the risk of fatal or incapacitating injury in rollover crashes.

Crash Test Safety

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in a recent set of tests involving a minicar and a midsize car model revealed that extra vehicle size and weight enhance occupant protection in collisions. According to its study, very small cars aren’t as crashworthy and generally can't protect people in crashes as well as bigger, heavier models. Size and weight affect injury likelihood in all kinds of crashes, in a crash involving two vehicles, the smaller one is often at a disadvantage. Auto defects can aggravate the effect of a crash – defective airbags and faulty seatbelts can end up killing the occupants of the vehicle instead of minimizing injury or saving their lives.

NHTSA: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Consumers are afforded the full protection of the law against defective cars and parts as well as vehicles that are not crashworthy. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act vests authority into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue vehicle safety standards. It also gives the NHTSA the power to require manufacturers to recall vehicles that have safety-related defects or do not meet Federal safety standards.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

There is also the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards which set the minimum performance requirements for parts of the vehicle that most affect its safe operation and protection of drivers and passengers such as brakes, tires, air bags, child restraints, and the like. But should some car owners and occupants be unfortunate enough to own vehicles that defy the standards of crashworthiness and quality of its parts and get injured because of it, they have the right to sue the manufacturer and provider of the vehicle. They may file a civil case for damages as the auto companies who fail to uphold their duty to provide safe products and fail to follow the standards imposed by law have the responsibility to compensate consumers who have been hurt by their cars and products.