How Do I Know If a Recalled Product Caused an Accident?

Auto recalls happen regularly, and many vehicle owners may not even find out about a recall until months later, or have a used vehicle with a recalled part they didn’t know about. In many cases, vehicle manufacturers do not publicize recalls to the general public. Vehicles are recalled because the defective product can cause serious, potentially life-threatening injuries. Whether you were aware that your car had a recalled product at the time of the accident or not, you may have the potential to claim compensation for your losses. Knowing if the recall was the cause of your car accident can be difficult; however, there are several ways to find out.

How Do You Check for Recalls on Your Vehicle?

Multiple online resources store vehicle recall information online. Search for your car on one of these sites, and you may find the type of product that was recalled.  This can help determine the cause of the accident.

When Did the Accident and Recall Occur?

Were you in an accident before the recall was announced? Let’s say that you got in an accident when your tire blew out, and the insurance company claimed it was your fault because you swerved into another car. Three months later, your vehicle’s axle is being recalled for being unsafe, and you may have a case against the car manufacturer for damages that happened in that accident. Take pictures of the damage in any accident for your records. You never know when a recall can happen. What if the recall already occurred? If you were aware of the recall and experienced an accident related to the product's function, contacting an attorney and allowing them to inspect the damage could be the best option. Having your vehicle repaired before legal professionals can examine it could eliminate evidence.

Recall Cases Can Be Complicated

There are multiple kinds of product defects, and having a Lufkin product liability attorney can help you determine if a faulty product caused your accident. Attempting to take action against a large auto corporation on your own can be expensive and extremely risky.

Why Texas School Buses May Be Unsafe for Children

Every car has seat belts; it’s the law. If you are caught without your seat belt in Texas, you will be fined, and a minor caught without a seat belt faces an even greater fine. Seat belts save many lives every day, and you would assume that, since Texas state law has made wearing seat belts a priority enforceable by law, especially for children, school buses would definitely be equipped with the best seat belt technology. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and is why Texas school buses may be unsafe for passengers.In 2009, the Texas legislature allocated $10 million to update school buses with seat belts.

The majority of school districts have still not updated their buses to this day. State officials say it is a priority for school districts not to purchase new buses with seat belts because the buses they currently have are sturdy and last a very long time. The state's allocated funds do not cover retrofitting old buses; they only cover purchasing new ones. A Texas state senator has introduced a bill requiring all new buses to have 3-point seat belts, one of the safest types. We can assume that school buses will continue to get safer as more are purchased, but many older buses are still in service, offering limited safety for passengers. This is a serious issue. Below are some tips on how to react if you are involved in a bus accident as a car driver. Steps to Take If Involved in a Bus Accident.

• Remain calm: This will be difficult in the wake of a potentially severe bus accident with multiple victims, but you must get through the situation.

• Report the accident: Call the local authorities if the accident is serious, and ensure emergency responders reach the scene as quickly as possible.

• Call your insurance company: Report the damages to your vehicle, take pictures of the crash scene, and tell them what happened. Report how much the damages cost to repair once they are fixed.

Bus accidents can be severe, and the reasons behind them can be much more complex than they initially appear. Having a Lufkin auto accident attorney who is experienced in handling many vehicle accident cases, including different kinds of vehicles, can help you get all the information you need for dealing with compensation for injuries and vehicle damage. Rules for filing claims against Governmental entities, like an accident involving a city bus, differ from those for filing against another insured driver of a car.

Was Negligence Involved In a Bad Weather Car Accident?

Bad weather greatly increases the risk of an accident. Determining who is at fault in an accident is usually an issue of negligence. East Texas is especially prone to bad weather. Severe thunderstorms and hurricanes can create flash floods within minutes. Driving in these conditions requires greater care to keep everyone safe. Keep reading below for some questions asked to determine whether negligence was involved in an auto accident.

How to Prove Negligence in a Bad Weather Car Accident

• What speed was necessary? Determining how fast the vehicles involved in the accident were traveling will help determine whether negligence was involved. In bad or severe weather, cars are expected to slow down for visibility and safety.

• Were the headlights on? Visibility can become scarce when skies darken in severe thunderstorms or heavy fog. Driving without headlights can cause accidents to other cars and pedestrians.

• What was the condition of the vehicle? Were the windshield wipers on and working? What about headlights? Were tire pressures at a safe level and in decent condition? Was there an engine failure that could be at the heart of the accident? These are all questions that need to be considered to determine the level of fault in an accident.

• How bad was the weather? The driving conditions at the time of the accident will also determine how the drivers should behave in that scenario. The less severe the weather, the less it would matter that you are driving slowly, with hazards on, etc.

What If Both Parties Are at Fault?

States have different laws that determine when a member involved in an accident can sue the other party for damages. In Texas, if a member is found to be 51 percent or more at fault for the accident, they cannot recover damages from the other party. Some states are 50 percent or higher; other states compensate on the exact amount of the percentage of liability they have in the accident, i.e., if you are 90 percent responsible for an accident, you can win the remaining 10 percent from the other insurance party. Car accidents can be expensive, and many complex factors go into determining whether drivers were negligent and who is financially responsible for the accident. Contact Mike Love & Associates, LLC today. Our team of Lufkin car accident lawyers can help you answer the hard questions in your auto accident.

Watch Out for Remarketed Defective Used Vehicles

Auto safety recalls are always important to follow. A recent recall involving Takata airbags has resulted in hundreds of injuries and affected almost 42 million cars. Is it possible that a used car dealer, aware of a vehicle’s potentially dangerous recalled products, could still sell the car to someone as long as they let them know that parts of the vehicle are on recall? The answer is yes, and this is the topic of a legal debate between General Motors and two used car dealers. Keep reading to learn ways that dangerous cars are being remarketed.

Ways Defective Cars Are Remarketed

Standard titles on remarketed recall cars include “repaired for safety issues” or “subject to inspection.” These titles are vague, and the real meaning of those terms can be lost in the sales process. The real danger of purchasing one of these vehicles should be made much more evident in the marketing. More like “car contains a potentially dangerous recalled airbag.” This would make it harder to sell the car, but the debate is whether these cars should be resold at all.Laws have been enacted against car manufacturers for selling recalled vehicles, and in 2016, a similar law was passed to regulate the sale of recalled vehicles by car rental agencies. There is no regulation of used-car companies. However, there are laws requiring the dealer to repair the recalled item fully or to disclose to the buyer that the car is still subject to recall.

 Is the Manufacturer or Used Car Dealer Liable?

In the event of a dangerous product recall, both the manufacturer and the used-car dealer may be found liable if certain conditions are met. The used-car dealer is not responsible for having cars with recalled parts. Still, they are responsible for clearly communicating to the vehicle buyer that the vehicle contains recalled products and has been repaired, or that the recalled product in the car is still pending repair. It’s when the remarketing is poorly explained to the buyer or uses overly vague wording to explain the problem clearly. This is where the means of a debate have arisen. The manufacturer of the recalled product is liable for personal injury lawsuits and compensatory damages. These remarketed cars are dangerous, and if you have purchased a used car with a defect, you may be eligible for compensation. Lufkin car accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC are experienced in many kinds of auto accident cases. Injured? Call us today.

Could Drone Technology Keep You Safe in an Emergency?

New drone installations are being introduced in the emergency response field. Imagine that you are in a terrible auto accident on the way up a mountain to go swimming in a lake during the summer. Your car is hit on the left side by an errant driver, pushing you off the road, and your vehicle then careens down a rocky cliff to your right. You regain consciousness and realize your leg is trapped under the vehicle, and rocks surround you. You know that an outsider would have a tough time reaching your car, since boulders shroud the accident site; however, there is an opening overhead. This is where emergency response can fly a drone in the opening; the drone can then assess the damage after you verbally state your location and injuries. This could save the emergency response team countless hours and resources spent locating the crash site and preparing for the injuries you have. This is an extreme case, but advances in technology are helping to keep you safe in emergencies. Keep reading for tips on what to do if you are trapped in an auto accident and what to do after you are safe.

How to React if You Are Trapped After An Auto Accident

• Try to remain calm: This will be very difficult, but in this situation, panicking will drain you of the limited energy you have left. The more energy you conserve, the longer you will be able to fight to stay alive.

• Call out for witnesses: Even if you are in a very remote area, there could be more people listening than you think. Try yelling for help periodically until you get a response. If people saw your accident, they are most likely already calling 911, which is cause for optimism. Utilize your OnStar emergency assistance and hands-free calling technology if possible.

• Have a first-aid kit: Having one in your car could be the difference between life and death in a devastating car accident like the one we described above. Have a box with a flashlight, a blanket, a first-aid kit, and water.

Take Action to Get the Compensation You Deserve

New advances in technology are making it easier to save lives. Despite this progress, people are seriously injured in auto accidents every day that may not be their fault. Suppose you have been in a serious accident and were not the driver at fault. In that case, the car accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can help you recover the compensation you deserve for injuries sustained in an auto accident.