What is an “auto product” you might be wondering? Your steering wheel, your car-seat, and your airbag are all examples of products that come together to make up your automobile. As with any other product, these things can malfunction. In the context of a moving automobile, when these things fail it can sometimes lead to serious consequences. This being America, what do people want to do when they are hurt? Sue!
In the past 12 months LegalMatch.com has been the destination for quite a few people looking for attorneys in their defective auto product claims. I decided to look at what injuries these products were causing, and here is what the data was telling me:
- Anxiety: 19%
- Difficulty sleeping: 14%
- Headaches: 12%
- Nausea: 4%
- Difficulty breathing: 4%
- Cuts and bruises: 3%
- Impaired vision: 2%
- Broken bones: 1%
A little while ago, we had an article debunking the myth that car accident lawsuits were a golden ticket to retirement. In reality, insurers fight these actions tooth and nail. Common injuries that do not exhibit obvious physical marks-such as neck and back pain-make a case more difficult to win.
This sage wisdom is relevant here because most of the injuries listed above aren’t visible. Maybe these folks have a perfectly valid warranty claim, but as far as product liability goes they may have an uphill battle.
In fact only 6% of the above are the type of injuries that a doctor (and a jury) can see. The rest are based on doctor’s opinions and trusting someone’s word. Of course we all want to take someone’s word for it, but the insurance company that is being told to pay $100,000 because someone can’t sleep at night isn’t going to go down quietly. These plaintiffs should be ready for a fight.