Marietta Injury Lawyer Blog

In a summer that has seen several dangerous and defective product recalls, Chrysler recently recalled nearly 600,000 vehicles involving five models in the United States.

The recall includes the Dodge Grand Caravan minivans and Chrysler Town and Country minivans for the years 2008 and 2009. These vehicles have the potential to catch fire due to a problem with the sliding door electrical system.

Also included are the Chrysler Jeep Wranglers for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. These jeeps could experience brake failure as a result of leaking brake fluid.

Additional vehicles involved in the recalls are the 2007 Dodge Caliber and 2007 Jeep Compass. Reminiscent of Toyota's recent problems, the Caliber and Compass are being recalled because of sticky accelerator pedals.

Chrysler issued a statement that owners of these vehicles would be contacted by the end of June and repairs will be made for free. To determine whether your vehicle is included in the recalls you can contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753.

On Thursday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of 1.7 million Maytag dishwashers due to a fire hazard. Whirlpool Corp. has received reports of 12 fire incidents caused by electrical failure in the dishwashers' heating element. There have been no reported injuries from the defective product. The recall includes dishwashers sold from February 2006 through April 2010 of the following brands, Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Magic Chef, Admiral, Performa by Maytag and Crosley.

Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the dishwasher and disconnect the power supply by shutting off the fuse controlling power to the appliance. To determine if your dishwasher is included in the recall you can contact Maytag at 1-800-544-5513.

Cadmium is a carcinogen known to cause adverse health problems including bone softening, severe kidney problems, and hindered brain development. In spite of this, dangerously high levels of Cadmium are still being discovered in dangerous products marketed to our children. On Friday, June 4, McDonald's announced it was recalling all Shrek promotional glasses due to abnormally high levels of Cadmium in the paint. At the time of the recall, McDonald's had sold an estimated 7 million glasses. Congresswoman, Jackie Speier, began an investigation into the Shrek glasses after receiving an anonymous tip concerning high levels of Cadmium in the paint. Following this investigation McDonald's issued a voluntary recall. "Our children's health should not depend on the consciences of anonymous sources," Speier said. "Although McDonald's did the right thing by recalling these products, we need stronger testing standards to ensure that all children's products are proven safe before they hit the shelves."

The McDonald's recall is just the latest. Early this spring, the consumer protection agency, issue three recalls for children's jewelry containing high levels of Cadmium.

In last week's blog I passed on Consumer Reports warnings concerning the new Lexus GX 460. Toyota initially responded to the report stating "We're concerned with the results of Consumer Reports testing on the Lexus GX 460 and their suggested buyer recommendation. Our engineers conducted similar tests during the development of the new GX and had no issues...Please keep in mind that the 2010 GX 460 meets or exceeds all Federal Government test requirements."

On Monday of this week, Toyota said they are recalling the Lexus GX 460 and they have a software update that will fix the problem. According to Consumer Reports, the vehicle is susceptible to serious rollover collisions due to a steering problem that the electronic stability control system fails to correct. If the software fix works, this is good news for consumers unfortunate enough to have purchased this vehicle. However, what puzzles me is how Toyota claims there was no problem on April 13th, then a few days later, on April 19th has a software update developed that will fix the problem. Based on this time line, it certainly appears that Toyota had a software fix waiting just in case anyone caught the safety issues with their new luxury SUV. If that is the case, then Toyota has been caught once again putting consumers at risk by failing to report known safety issues.

In our Marietta injury lawyer blog, we recently discussed the safety concerns with the new Lexus GX 460. Consumer Reports has also released some video of the problematic Lexus SUV being tested on their handling course in East Haddam Connecticut. The above video illustrates Consumer Reports' concerns with this vehicle.

Toyota, the parent company of Lexus, got more bad news this week when Consumer Reports published the results of their safety testing on the Lexus GX460. Testing on a handling course indicated the SUV was a rollover risk in real-world driving situations. At the Consumer Report test track, during tight turns the rear of the Lexus GX would slide out until the vehicle was sideways before the electronic stability control system would kick in. This is significant, because If a motorist encountered a similar situation this could cause a rollover accident resulting in serious injury or death.

The test performed is called a lift-off oversteer, and it's a test Consumer Reports does on every vehicle they evaluate. They have tested 95 various SUVs and no vehicle has done as poorly as the Lexus GX 460. Product liability lawyers and other consumer advocates are taking this report very seriously, as this is the first time Consumer Reports has designated a vehicle's performance as not acceptable since August of 2001. Right now consumers are urged to refrain from buying this vehicle until this problem is fixed. Those that have already purchased the vehicle are being asked to use extreme caution while driving and to contact Lexus and/or Toyota to see if a fix has been developed.

When it comes to vehicles, there are some dangerous and defective products on the market right now. A good source of vehicle safety and recall information is the Consumer Reports car blog. Today Consumer Reports posted an informative piece on the latest recalls concerning the following vehicle: Acura, Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, Saab, and Toyota. If have one of these vehicles, or are considering buying a new or used car, it is worth a read.

Last week tragedy struck south Georgia when five people were killed and one person seriously injured when a 2002 Toyota collided head-on with a van near Rochelle, Georgia. The Georgia State Patrol is still investigating what caused this crash that took the life of a mother and her three children, ages, 4, 7, and 9, as well as the life of the 68-year-old passenger of the van. The Red Cross is notifying the childrens' father currently serving overseas with the U.S. Navy. The driver of the van was seriously injured and taken to Macon hospital.

There have been no reports as to the cause of the collision at this time. However, Georgia product liability lawyers and other consumer advocates will be watching closely to see if the investigation reveals whether there were any defects with the Toyota that caused this tragic collision. At least 34 deaths have been linked to Toyota unintended acceleration problems. With more information becoming available about Toyota defects every day, more law enforcement and family investigations are looking to the vehicles for answers in these unusual tragic collisions.

Product Liability Lawyers, research groups, and the federal government have been closely following consumer complaints, injuries, and deaths resulting from Toyota unintended acceleration problems. Toyota claims the multiple recalls for floor mats and gas pedals will fix the problem. However, there is compelling data linking these acceleration incidents to the electronic throttle control systems. I anticipate there are more Toyota vehicle recalls in our future.

The family of a 34 year old, Trina Renee Harris, filed a wrongful death suit against Toyota this week. Mrs. Harris died when her Toyota sped through a stop sign and crashed into a cement wall. The Harris case is believed to be the third acceleration related wrongful death lawsuit filed against Toyota. Toyota is also being sued for unexpected acceleration related deaths in California and Michigan. Toyota has refused to comment on the pending litigation. However, Toyota recently announced a fix to the defective gas pedal problem.

Of interest to Georgia Product Liability Lawyers, this week Toyota announced it has created a fix for defective gas pedals in millions of recalled vehicles. The replacement parts are being shipped and dealers will be extending hours to accommodate all the expected repairs.

Georgia Product Liability Update; Honda recently recalled 646,000 2008 and 2009 Fit Models (also known as City and Jazz internationally) due to a fire hazard in the window switch. The Honda recall affects 114,000 vehicles in the United States.

As part of our continued Georgia dangerous and defective products update, Chrysler Group has announced it is recalling thousands of Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles to fix a defective part linked to sudden brake failure.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other organizations have been compiling Toyota unintended acceleration data for years. The following is the most up to date data I could find of reported Toyota incidents from 1999 to present:

Total Incidents - 2262
Crashes - 815
Injuries - 341
Deaths - 19

As a Georgia Product Liability Lawyer, I've been extremely interested in the massive Toyota recalls due to runaway vehicles. As the owner of a Toyota and a father of two, I've been more concerned with what I should do if I experience unintended acceleration. Consumer Reports Magazine and Toyota have recommended the following strategy if your vehicle experiences sudden acceleration:

1) Push the brakes hard and hold
2) Do not pump brakes
3) After hitting the brakes, shift the vehicle in neutral
4) If you can't get the vehicle in neutral, turn the vehicle off
5) If you turn the vehicle off, leave the key in the ignition
6) Pull safely off the road
7) Turn off the car and park.