Author: wmlawyers

It is ironic that in an age when cars are being more safely designed than ever, we are also experiencing unprecedented dangers related to vehicle defects. In 2015, approximately 51 million vehicles in the United States were included in nearly 900 recalls. Although last year's recall rate was higher than ever before, the recall trend is becoming disturbingly common.

Another irony in the recall trend has to do with communication. At a time when Americans have up-to-the-minute information available whenever they want to search for it, a surprising number of vehicle owners are not aware that their cars have been included in a safety recall. This could be due to fatigue related to the non-stop string of recalls, however.

In an effort to boost consumer participation in the recall process, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently launched a campaign called "Safe Cars Save Lives." The agency is asking all car owners to commit to checking for open recalls at least twice per year.

This has actually become rather easy to do if you have one important piece of information. Websites run by the NHTSA and other agencies allow consumers to enter their vehicle identification number (VIN) into a search tool, which then checks it against VINs provided by auto manufacturers in recall notices. The whole process only takes a minute.

Of course, remembering to do the search is the biggest obstacle. The NHTSA recommends tying it to either end of daylight savings time, which occurs in March and November.

It is more than a little frustrating to think that we have to be responsible for figuring out whether or not our vehicles have been recalled. It is a sad sign that recalls are now the rule and no longer the exception. Still, for the sake of yourself and your family, please make a commitment to check for recalls at least twice a year.

There’s no debating the fact that automobiles have become much safer in recent decades. New technologies not only make cars more fuel-efficient; they also help drivers avoid crashes. And when crashes do occur, they tend to be less fatal than they would have been in the past.

But some new automobile technologies – especially those meant to simply increase convenience – come with hidden dangers. A good example is the keyless ignition feature now available on many new cars. These systems allow the car to be turned on with the push of a button as long as the key fob is detected by sensors in the vehicle. While this technology is certainly convenient, most systems do not come equipped with automatic shut-off when the fob is no longer detected. As a result, drivers of these vehicles may be at higher risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to a recent news article, there have been at least 18 confirmed deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning in keyless ignition vehicles. Six people were killed in this manner in 2015 alone. In many cases, cars were inadvertently left running in garage attached to victims’ homes. An unknown number of additional victims have survived, but were left with injuries that included brain damage.

The fact that keyless ignition cars can accidentally be left running was perhaps an oversight that automakers could not have predicted. But the fix should be an easy one. In fact, some believe that a software update could solve the problem in both new vehicles and ones which have already been purchased. Two proposed fixes include an auto-shut-off feature if the fob is no longer detected near the vehicle, and an audible alarm if the vehicle senses that the fob is moving away.

But here’s where the story becomes particularly frustrating. Car companies and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have known about this problem for years. Yet the miniscule amount of progress being made is moving at a snail’s pace. The NHTSA filed a notice of proposed rule making in December 2011. A final rule is not expected until February of 2016, and any rule passed would only apply to new vehicles.

In an attempt to solve the problem more quickly, attorneys have filed a class action lawsuit in California against 10 automakers.

Until or unless changes are made, Americans who own keyless ignition vehicles need to understand the risks they pose. Please ensure that you always turn off your vehicle before leaving it parked.

At this point, Americans are quite familiar with product liability claims related to automobiles. The Takata air bag scandal is just the latest in a frequent string of recalls for dangerous and defective parts in cars and trucks. Sometimes these defects cause motor vehicle accidents and sometimes they make crashes more likely to be fatal.

It is far rarer to hear about auto accidents caused by defective products that are not actually part of the vehicle. That was apparently the scenario in a recent 18-wheeler accident in the Midwest. According to news sources, the driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a highway guardrail when the e-cigarette he was holding suddenly exploded.

Thankfully, no other vehicles were involved in the crash and the truck driver's crash-related injuries were minor. He did, however, suffer injuries related to the exploding device.

In recent years, e-cigarettes have become an incredibly popular alternative to traditional smoking. This is despite a lack of evidence to support claims that they pose less of a health risk than smoking tobacco products. While this seems to be one of the first reported cases of a crash related to e-cigarettes, there have been other reports of the devices exploding during use. Incidents like this one could lead to personal injury lawsuits, product liability claims and more stringent regulation of these devices.

Although the truck accident occurred in the Midwest, it just as easily could have happened here in California, and with deadlier results. Hopefully, any problems with these apparently dangerous devices will be resolved before such an accident happens again.

We have previously written about the intriguing possibilities of self-driving cars. This topic is especially interesting to people here in the Bay Area, because Google's autonomous vehicle technology seems to be further along than that of other groups working on this important project.

In December, we wrote about proposed rules issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that would require licensed, human drivers to "be present inside the vehicle and be capable of taking control in the event of a technology failure or other emergency." Critics have said that these rules could really slow the progress of innovation. But earlier this month, news from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seemingly cleared away a major regulatory hurdle.

In a letter that the NHTSA sent to Google, the agency said it "will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants." In other words, the car's self-driving software could be considered a "driver" for regulatory purposes.

The possibility of self-driving vehicles is exciting from both a convenience standpoint and a safety standpoint. Human error is the cause of or a contributing factor to the vast majority of car accidents. Many tech enthusiasts have predicted that once self-driving vehicles become ubiquitous, the rate of car accidents in the U.S. will decrease dramatically.

On the other hand, we truly don't know how such software will perform. The high number of safety recalls in recent years is a reminder that automakers are not always giving vehicle safety the attention it deserves. If and when accidents do occur, auto companies (and software developers they contract with) could potentially be held liable as both negligent manufacturers and negligent drivers.

The time for self-driving vehicles has not arrived yet, but there is reason to believe it is just around the corner. Hopefully, regulators will not wait to address these important liability questions.

The safety of road travel in the United States has been improving for decades. Between 2000 and 2014, for instance, annual traffic fatalities declined by 22 percent. That is real, measurable progress.

Unfortunately, preliminary numbers from 2015 suggest that the trend is quickly reversing. In the first nine months of 2015, the rate of traffic fatalities in the U.S. increased 9.3 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier. In human terms, 2015 saw an estimated 26,000 car accident deaths in less than a year.

According to a press release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, regulators are very concerned by these statistics. In response, the NHTSA is holding a series of regional summits to discuss mitigation strategies and address the human factors underlying many fatal crashes. These include drunk driving, distracted driving, drowsy driving, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt and failure to use child seats. The agency also wants to address ways to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The first summit was held earlier this month in California's capitol. Commenting on the effort, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx noted that “For decades, U.S. DOT has been driving safety improvements on our roads, and those efforts have resulted in a steady decline in highway deaths. But the apparent increase in 2015 is a signal that we need to do more. The safety summits that NHTSA is kicking off today in Sacramento will provide us with new approaches to add to the tried-and-true tactics that we know save lives.”

Observers may have noticed that this increasing concern about human driving behavior comes at a time when autonomous vehicles could soon become a reality. It will be interesting to find out whether dangerous driver choices will hasten the adoption of self-driving vehicles.

In recent years, California roads and highways have been plagued by some devastating and high-profile bus accidents. Many of these accidents involved commercial motor coach companies offering low-fare trips between cities (and states).

There are certainly reputable and reliable carriers. But overall, the motor coach transportation industry is plagued by companies seeking to make a quick buck however and whenever they can. Sadly, the very low fares some companies are able to offer come at the cost of safety.

Since it first began operating in 2006, the company Megabus has made a name for itself across the United States – primarily by offering incredibly low fares for certain trips. In some cases, passengers can ride one way for as little as $1.

But those low prices may come with hidden costs – and not just in the form of extra fees. Megabus has been associated with several injurious and fatal accidents over the past few years. In 2010, four passengers were killed when a double-decker Megabus struck a railroad overpass in New York State.

In 2014, a rollover accident injured 26 passengers in Indiana. A year later, another Megabus crash resulted in 19 injuries.

And recently, a columnist for the New York Times wrote about his own harrowing experience when the Megabus he was riding in caught fire for inexplicable reasons. Passengers were able to escape uninjured, but nearly all luggage stored in the lower compartments was destroyed when the whole bus became engulfed in flames.

To be sure, Megabus is not the only motor coach company with a bad safety record. In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has found it very difficult to regulate this industry overall. Fly-by-night companies may get shut down, only to reopen under different names.

If you ever rely on bus transportation between cities or states, please understand the risks that often hide behind the promise of low fares. Before you buy a ticket from any carrier, take the time to do some online research. A company's safety record should tell you all you need to know.