Auto Recalls Hit Record High: Is Your Car Safe?

Recalls on defective auto parts have hit record highs for the third year in a row. In 2016, 53.2 million vehicles were recalled and 927 campaigns were enacted. The Takata airbag recall is the largest in U.S. history, involving over 42 million vehicles. Recalls on Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and General Motors make up the rest of the list. These auto manufacturers are liable for injuries caused by these parts and must be diligent in addressing the issue. Toyota recently paid $1.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to fix an accelerator issue. Given that there are more recalls than ever, let’s take a moment to go over some helpful tips for dealing with a recall that involves your vehicle.

Questions to Ask About Your Recall

• How serious is the recall? There may be a long delay in repairing your vehicle, depending on its size. Many recalls will involve a component that is not essential to the vehicle's operation. In these cases, it is still safe to drive, but your car may not be operating at full efficiency. In other cases, you may receive a recall notice that lets you know you need to stop driving altogether. The manufacturer should provide you a loaner vehicle until the repairs are complete. They are also legally required to notify affected vehicle owners promptly.

• What can be done to fix the issue? The dealer should be replacing the part for free. In some cases, they may ask to repurchase the vehicle or replace the vehicle entirely. If your auto manufacturer is not complying with fixing your recall, you should call the dealer department and show them your recall notice. If you are still experiencing issues, contact the vehicle manufacturer. In some cases, you should file a claim with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA’s website has an online form for car safety reports. This is a great place to report a suspected recall and other vehicle defects.

Cases involving injuries that result from recalls can get complicated, and having an experienced auto accident attorney can help you get the coverage you need from the auto manufacturer. Often, products that have not been recalled can be proven to cause serious accidents with the help of product liability lawyers and accident reconstruction specialists. Contact the Lufkin product liability attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC for more information about defective products and obtaining compensation for your recall-related injuries.

What Happens After You’re Hit by an Intoxicated Driver?

New information has surfaced about the driver who allegedly caused the large bus crash involving the death of 12 people in Uvalde County, TX. The driver allegedly was on prescription drugs and stated that he was texting during the accident after he was caught on video swerving over the edge line more than 37 times. Intoxicated drivers hit people regularly, and there are some steps you can take to see if a drunk driver hit you in an auto accident.

How Do You Know if A Driver Is Intoxicated?

• Look for signs before the accident: swerving on the road or slowing down at a stoplight can indicate that a driver is intoxicated. While communicating with a driver after an accident, listen for slurred speech and look for a vacant or dull expression on their face. Are they having trouble communicating with you?

• Contact the police: This is a good idea in any accident. A police officer will be better able to tell if someone is intoxicated, and having a police report of your accident can make your case stronger.

How Do You Know If You’re Getting Enough Coverage for Your Accident?

When filing a claim in civil court against a drunk driver, several factors will be considered. How badly your vehicle was damaged, how severe the injuries sustained were, and how negligent and intoxicated the driver was will be considered.

• Uninsured Drivers: If the intoxicated driver who hits you does not have insurance, your insurance company may have to cover the damages you receive with Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage. If you do not have Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage, you can consult the help of a car accident attorney to explore other options.

• Dram shop claims: If the circumstances are right, you can attempt to claim the bar or restaurant that sold the alcohol to the drunk driver.

Watch Out for Insurance Companies

The other driver’s insurance company may call you and offer you a settlement quickly after the accident. Insurance companies are trying to offer you as little as possible and quickly, so future damages may not be considered.  Contacting a Lufkin drunk driving accident attorney can help you make the right decisions following an accident involving a drunk driver.

What If My Employer Doesn’t Offer Workers’ Comp?

Many Texas employees work for non-subscribers, meaning their employers do not offer workers’ compensation. In Texas, offering workers’ comp is not required. However, this does not mean that you do not have options for getting compensation in the event of a serious work-related injury. You can get the financial help you need through a personal injury case. Sometimes injuries are caused by contractor negligence or by equipment manufactured by a third party. This means that your employer was not at fault, but a third party may have been.

Please make sure you have information related to the circumstances of your injury documented to help your claim be the strongest it can be. How Did the Injury Occur? Were you injured because the equipment you were using had improper instructions? Did the accident happen because your employer didn’t properly train you? Was a contractor negligent in providing safety materials for your job? These are all important questions to find out who should be held liable for your injuries.

If your injury is disabling and prevents you from returning to work, you may qualify for assistance from Government programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance. (SSDI)Should You Pursue Multiple Claims? In certain circumstances, it may be necessary to make multiple claims. For example, let’s say Jon works at a gardening plant operating a forklift. Jon received no training to operate the forklift, and the steering malfunctioned, causing Jon to lose control and flip the forklift. Jon seriously injured his leg. Jon could file a case against his employer for failing to train him and the forklift manufacturer for manufacturing a defective product.

Often, an injury results from multiple factors that may be the fault of different parties. Taking legal action against one party can be taxing enough, especially if you are doing it by yourself. Consulting a personal injury attorney with experience in complex work-related personal injury cases could save your finances from free fall, and save you from wasting time and energy filing your claim against the wrong party.The work injury attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can help victims of on-the-job accidents with a Texas nonsubscriber or third-party claim. Injured? Contact us today.

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.