Personal InjuryMotor Vehicle Defects Found In 1995 Nissan Pathfinder Suggests The Car Is Not Crashworthy
Most motor vehicle defect attorneys will admit that the 1995 Nissan Pathfinder is not a crashworthy car. In 2006, Rebecca Perdue was driving her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder on University Boulevard in Tyler, Texas when another vehicle crashed into her Nissan. Perdue claims she was properly wearing her seatbelt at the time of the car accident, yet she sustained serious personal injuries because the Nissan failed to protect her.
Perdue subsequently filed a auto product liability lawsuit against Nissan Motor Company. defective product Attorneys representing Perdue claimed that the Pathfinder was "not reasonably crashworthy" and was "unreasonably dangerous and defective." These claims were supported by the vehicle's "poor car crash test performance, stiff car crash pulse, performance in real-world car collisions, and high death rate."
The product liability lawsuit further claimed that the Nissan Pathfinder was defective in a design that was too stiff and rigid to properly distribute impact forces and that it transmitted those forces into the car's occupant space. It was also alleged that the car failed to provide an adequate restraint design or an advanced restraint system that would be necessary for cars with rigid and stiff structures to achieve "ride-down," which is the "reduction in restraint loading and risk of occupant injury."
"It is regrettable that Nissan had been developing advanced restraint systems for decades but decided not to include an advanced restraint design in the1995 Pathfinder," noted nationally recognized motor vehicle defects lawyer, Brian Chase. "A number of recent changes in SUV designs suggest that older SUV designs could have been made significantly more crashworthy. For example, Nissan modified its 2001 Pathfinder by adding a reinforced bumper to spread impact forces over a wider area, thereby reducing the possibility of personal injury in a car crash."
Attorneys for Perdue argued that an airbag and/or other advanced safety restraint should have been incorporated because the restraint system is incomplete and ineffective without them. Nissan, they asserted, investigated the use of front-end structure modification to improve the crashworthiness of its cars but did not incorporate an appropriate design to the Pathfinder.
"Had Perdue's Pathfinder been equipped with a properly designed restraint system, including an airbag, she would have had a better chance of escaping personal injury in the car accident," said nationally recognized auto defect lawyer, John Bisnar.
The plaintiff sought more than $75,000 in damages for medical expenses, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, disfigurement, impairment, loss of consortium, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, interference with daily activities and a reduced capacity to enjoy life.
"A NHTSA study found that midsize SUVs, such as the Nissan Pathfinder, were three times as likely to kill other motorists in a car collision as large passenger cars of approximately the same weight," said John Bisnar. "Based on IIHS and NHTSA evidence of major disparities in SUV collision risks for occupants of other cars, it's not surprising that some of the nation's largest auto insurance companies have begun to raise their liability insurance premiums for SUVs."
While defective airbag lawsuits like the Perdue's and the lawsuits we have filed against Nissan will not bring loved ones back or restore them to health, they serve to alert the general public about the dangers of these vehicles. We also hope that the lawsuit costs help persuade automakers to stop manufacturing these vehicles with inadequate passenger safety systems or at least redesign them to make them more crashworthy.
If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries as the result of a defective auto part or vehicle, contact the experienced California auto products liability attorneys at BISNAR | CHASE for a free consultation. We will use our extensive knowledge and resources to achieve the best possible results for you and your family.
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