Last week, our firm filed an auto product liability and wrongful death lawsuit against Suzuki Motor Corporation on behalf of our client, Steven Bardonner and his minor children. Andrea Bardonner, Steven’s wife, died after the Grand Vitara sport utility vehicle she was in rolled over causing her seatbelt to fail. We are representing Bardonner and his two minor daughters who suffered serious, permanent injuries in this fatal Suzuki Grand Vitara rollover accident.

Andrea Bardonner and her daughters, Nichelle and Makayla, were traveling on Highway 16 near Alberta, Canada when the driver lost control. The Vitara rolled over and Bardonner was ejected through the vehicle’s window after her seatbelt failed and died on the scene. Both her daughters suffered severe injuries. According to the court documents filed in Orange County Superior Court, the Vitara had insufficient lateral and roll stability that caused it to overturn. The Bardonners are seeking unspecified monetary damages to compensate for medical expenses, loss of past earnings and future earning capacity, funeral and burial expenses, wrongful death, pain and suffering.

It is appalling that an industry giant like Suzuki would knowingly manufacture a weak seatbelt that tears and gives way in a rollover accident. That seatbelt did nothing to protect Andrea although she was buckled up. What’s more aggravating is that for just $100 more in production costs, this Suzuki Grand Vitara could have been made a lot safer. Two young girls would not have suffered these life-altering injuries and their mother would still be alive.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2005, there were a total of 43,443 traffic accident fatalities in the United States. Out of this number 10,816 fatalities were caused by rollovers. The number of people dying or suffering major injuries in rollover crashes keeps increasing every year. And yet, auto makers continue to make the same defective products over and over again.

We will be fighting hard to make sure that Suzuki pays for its utter lack of quality control and lack of accountability to consumers. If you or someone you know has suffered major injuries as a result of a Suzuki Grand Vitara defect or any other auto product defect, I’d like to hear about it.