A new report released by the American Association for Justice (AAJ) draws a strong link between design defect litigation and innovations in automobile safety. Documenting cases since the 1960s, the report shows how design defect lawsuits have enforced safety standards, exposed previously concealed auto defects, challenged weak governmental vehicle requirement regulations, and ultimately, deterred vehicle manufacturers from skimping on safety to promote profits.
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The California auto defect lawyers, BISNAR | CHASE (www.BestAttorney.com), have recently announced their win of an appeal, granted by the Superior Court of L.A. County. The appeal is for an auto defects case where defendants, Ford Motor Company, Cooper Tire and Rubber Company, Leader Auto Sales and Power Tires, allegedly manufactured and sold tires that were defective and caused the rollover accident resulting in the deaths of two Ford Explorer SUV passengers. The original case was filed in San Diego Superior Court in 2006.
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Alice Faye Cross, 41, was killed in a San Bernardino car accident in the Cajon Pass, the morning of June 18, 2010. According to a news report in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Cross was driving in the southbound lanes of the 15 Freeway near Oak Hills Road, when her vehicle went off the roadway, toward the median. Officials said she tried to cross traffic lanes to the west side of the road when several speeding cars struck her vehicle. Cross was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation is ongoing.
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One person died and three others — identified as Eric Tran, 19, John Sallem, 17 and Jose Lara, 38 — were injured in a San Francisco car accident the morning of June 20, 2010. According to a Bay City News report, the accident occurred in the eastbound lanes of state Route 4 in Concord, when a Toyota minivan bearing the driver, Tran, and Sallem, drifted to the right while taking the Port Chicago Highway off-ramp. The Toyota then went off the roadway, down an embankment and landed on a transition road where it collided with a Ford driven by Lara.
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Four people were injured in a fiery rollover accident on the 210 Freeway the afternoon of June 19, 2010. According to ABC and Los Angeles Times news reports, the accident occurred on the westbound 210 Freeway in Sylmar on a transition road west of Yarnell Street. A car carrying four people, including a 13-year-old child, crashed into several vehicles and rolled over before catching on fire. Officials said that the driver and passengers were ejected from the vehicle. The 13-year-old girl was the most seriously injured and was airlifted to an area hospital in critical condition. A 21-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were also injured and transported to the hospital.
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The head of an auto industry watchdog group is saying that Toyota Motor Corporation has shown a tendency over a period of many years to delay auto product defect recalls and cover up various problems with its vehicles. According to a UPI news report, Clarence Ditlow, head of the Center for Auto Safety says Toyota has displayed “a pattern of covering up defects.”
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Jason Nicholl, 38, was killed in a Riverside car accident after losing control of his SUV and crashing into a pole. According to a news report in The Press-Enterprise, the fatal car accident occurred early morning on June 13, 2010 in the southbound lanes of the 215 Freeway near Eastridge Avenue. Nicholl was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. California Highway Patrol officials are still looking into what caused this crash. Nicholl was wearing a seatbelt, according to the Riverside Coroner’s office.

I offer my heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Jason Nicholl for their tragic and devastating loss. Please keep this grieving family in your thoughts and prayers.
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Regal Lager Inc. has issued a defective product recall for about 3,000 CYBEX 2.GO infant carriers because of a fall hazard to children. According to a news report in Consumeraffairs.com, a shoulder strap slider buckle can break, posing a fall hazard to babies. So far, the company has received three reports of broken buckles. No injuries have been reported yet in connection with these defective products.
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Two people on a motorcycle were killed and one other driver seriously injured in a San Francisco car accident, which officials say was the result of a driver making an unsafe lane change. According to a Bay City News report, the fatal crash occurred in the eastbound lanes of Highway 4 near Lone Tree Way, in Antioch. California Highway Patrol officials say the driver of a Ford F-250 pickup truck made an unsafe lane change on the highway the afternoon of June 15, 2010 and caused a Honda Civic to strike the motorcycle. The pickup truck then fled the scene of the accident. The motorcyclist and the passenger were transported to an area hospital where they died shortly afterward. The driver of the Civic sustained serious injuries. Anyone with information is asked to contact 1-800-TELL-CHP.
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Bo Youn Cho, 67, and Byong Hi Cho, 62, were killed in a car accident in Sonoma County after Cho lost control of the car and crashed on Highway 12, the afternoon of June 13, 2010. According to a news report in the Times Herald, Bo Youn Cho was driving a 1990 Toyota Corolla in the northbound lanes of the highway near Ramal Road, when the car drifted to the right and entered a dirt shoulder.
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