product liability

The California personal injury lawyers at Bisnar | Chase have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against General Motors, GMC Truck Division; Takta Restraint Systems, a seatbelt manufacturer and Dave Smith Motors, a Wyoming car dealer. The auto product liability lawsuit we have filed on behalf of our client alleges that General Motors and the co-defendants acted with callous disregard for the safety of Joanna Campbell, who died in a rollover car accident while riding in a GMC sport utility vehicle. We have filed this lawsuit on behalf of Paula Savino for Campbell's surviving adult children. We are seeking compensatory and punitive damages on the family's behalf.

The fatal rollover accident occurred July 10, 2007 when Carmen L. Todd lost control of her 2002 GMC Yukon Denali on Interstate 90 in Wyoming. The SUV rolled over, crushing its roof and causing it to cave in. Campbell, who was a passenger, was partially ejected. She suffered a severe skull fracture, which proved to be fatal. Our auto product liability attorneys are alleging in the lawsuit that the seatbelt manufacturer and car dealer sold this SUV without warning consumers about its defective and unsafe seat restraint system. Read the rest »

DEWALT is has issued a product recall on about 9,000 defective framing nailers that could cause serious injury to consumers. According to Consumeraffairs.com, the bump action trigger on the framing nailers could have been incorrectly assembled during production, which would allow the nailer to eject a fastener unexpectedly or cause the trigger lock-off not to function. This defective product apparently has the potential to cause serious injuries to users or bystanders.

Consumers are urged to immediately stop using DEWALT Clipped Head Framing Nailers with model number D51825, and DEWALT Full Round Head Framing Nailers with model number D51850, which were sold throughout the United States between January 2008 and September 2008 for approximately $280. Read the rest »

Many defective product attorneys have received word of product liability found in recalled strollers. The company Bugaboo is recalling about 22,500 defective strollers because of possible stroller brake failures. According to a news report in Consumeraffairs.com, Bugaboo has already received 121 reports of brakes failing in its Bee brand strollers. However, so far, no personal injuries have been reported as a result of this product defect. Bugaboo Bee strollers have the item code "580210" on a label on the back of the seat and the item code "50100" on a label on the plastic support under the seat. The strollers were apparently sold in various colors including blue, khaki, pink, red, yellow and black. The strollers, manufactured in Taiwan, were sold at children's product retailers nationwide and online between August 2007 and April 2009 for about $530.

Those who own or use these recalled stroller product are asked to stop using them immediately and contact Bugaboo to receive a free repair kit. For more information, please call the company at 1-800-460-2922. Read the rest »

Recent reports have pointed to serous product liability on a coffee and tea brewer. Bunn-O-Matic is recalling about 35,600 single cup pod coffee and tea brewers because the pod drawer of the brewer can open unexpectedly during a brew cycle, posing a serious burn hazard to consumers. According to a report in Consumeraffairs.com, Bunn-O-Matic has so far received 10 reports of the drawer opening unexpectedly, including one report of burn injuries.

This product defect recall apparently involves Bunn Single Pod Brewers. The models included in this defective product recall are MCP and MCA. The pod brewers have a black body with stainless backsplash and measure 12 inches high by 8 inches wide. The brand name "Bunn" is printed on the front and lights up when the pod brewer is on. Read the rest »

A children's ride at the Puyallup Spring Fair in Seattle toppled over the evening of April 17, 2009 sending one child to the hospital in a neck brace and leaving 11 others with personal injuries. According to a news report in the Seattle Times, five children and one adult injured in this Seattle fair ride accident were taken to area hospitals for treatment. The ride, called a Lolly Swing, toppled over. Bridget Haney, 10, who was on the ride at the time it toppled, talked to the Seattle Times. Bridget said she was able to get out of her dangling swing when it toppled and drop into the arms of witnesses and fair workers. Bridget escaped with a bump and a bruise. Several suffered more personal injuries as they hit the ground when the ride fell.

I hope all the victims of this horrific ride accident did not suffer serious personal injuries. It is a relief that more people were not hurt. This could have been a lot worse. I wish all the injured victims the very best for a quick and complete recovery.

The Lolly Swing has apparently been a fixture at the fair's Kiddyland area for the past five years. The ride has swing-type seats that rotate around a central pillar. Fair authorities said all rides at the fair are required to undergo a variety of safety checks and are inspected annually by the state. Washington State Department Labor and Industries officials are investigating the incident and the ride would be shut down until that investigation is completed. There is no word yet on what caused the incident. They are looking at the possibility that the soggy ground under the ride may have given way.

Obviously, there are still many unanswered questions here. The most important question that must be answered of course is what caused the ride to topple. The injured victims would be well advised to contact a Seattle personal injury attorney experienced in handling amusement park ride accidents or carnival ride accidents. If this ride accident occurred because the ride was not properly set up and maintained, then the ride operator or the fair operator could be held liable. If there was a product defect, then the manufacturer of the ride could be held responsible. Victims of this accident may be compensated for medical expenses and other damages related to this accident.

About 25,000 Simplicity Travel Tender play yards are being recalled for product defects, such as fall and entrapment hazards, Consumeraffairs.com reports. According to the report, one or more rails can collapse unexpectedly causing young children to fall or get trapped. Federal regulators say they have heard of at least five reports of one or more rails collapsing. However, no injuries have been reported. The defective play yards, made in China, are portable and were sold with a bassinet, changing table and other mobile features. All the recalled products bear the "Simplicity" logo. The model numbers involved in this recall are 5500DRM, 5500WDS, 5500FEL, 5501FEL, 5502MON, 5520PRO, 5550HAN, 5700MAN, and 5750MIR.

The recalled products were sold at retail outlets nationwide such as Burlington Coat Factory and online at Babiesrus.com, Target.com and Kohls.com from March 2005 through January 2009 for a price of about $100. Consumers are asked to immediately stop using these play yards and return them immediately to the place of purchase for a refund or a replacement product. For more information about this product recall, please refer to this consumer news alert (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09187.html), issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Simplicity Inc., which imported and distributed these defective products, is no longer in business. Over the last year, millions of Simplicity cribs and bassinets have been recalled for similar product defects that posed fall and entrapment hazards. Several deaths have been reported nationwide (California included) where children had become trapped and suffocated because of the defective products. These product recalls have come too late and have done nothing for the families that have lost their beloved children because this company could not find a way to regulate the quality of its imported products.

The frightening part of this story is that there are hundreds of defective products out there that have not been recalled. If you or someone you love has been injured by a defective product, please contact an experienced California product liability lawyer, who can give you more information about how to pursue your rights. Where defective Simplicity products were involved, several of the recalls would not have been issued had parents of deceased children not come forward with the truth. These are parents that wanted to make sure other children and their parents don't suffer the same fate. These parents, who worked to create awareness about these defective products while grieving for their children, must be highly commended. In my eyes, they are true heroes!