1p21.admin, Author at GUERRA LLP

Mazda may appeal $10 million accident verdict in Ala.

Posted on December 10, 2015 by 1p21.admin

Hannah Lutz

Automotive News

Mazda Motor Corp. said it is considering an appeal of an Alabama jury order to pay $9.9 million to the victims of a 2010 crash that resulted in a fuel-fed fire, injuring the driver and killing the only passenger .

The jury reached its verdict Monday after a three-week trial in the circuit court of Jefferson County, Ala., in Bessemer.

On Nov. 22, 2010, Sydney McLemore, who was 16 at the time,

lost control of a 2008 Mazda3 sedan and hit a utility pole on the side of the road at 25 to 30 mph. The car crashed on the driver’s side, close to the fuel tank. The tank

was next to a metal muffler that had a sharp edge that punctured it, said D. Bruce Petway, the attorney for Jon and Barbara Hurst, the passenger’s parents.

The tank ruptured, leaking gasoline and causing a fire, according to court documents.

McLemore escaped from the vehicle but 15 percent of her body, on her back and her right arm, was burned. The fire killed the front-seat passenger, 15-year-old Natalie Hurst, who was stuck in the vehicle.

‘Industry standards’

Mazda disregarded industry standards by placing the muffler next to an unguarded fuel tank, Benjamin Baker, McLemore’s attorney said.

With this case, “we established that industry standards require that mufflers should be behind the rear axle” and away from the fuel tank, Baker said.

The complaint charged that the Mazda3 had a defective design and said the automaker should have suspected that the design could result in a post-collision fire.

Petway called it “probably the worst designed muffler and tank on the road.”

In a statement, the automaker said, “Mazda has great sympathy for the loss and injuries suffered by the plaintiffs and their families, and values the safety of all occupants of its vehicles.

“However, Mazda does not agree that the plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to support their allegation of defect, nor does it believe that there was evidence establishing that Mazda violated any industry standards.”

Considering appeal

The automaker said the vehicle met and exceeded all government standards.

“This accident represents the only claim, lawsuit or consumer complaint that has been made regarding a 2004-09 Mazda3 alleging that a post-collision, fuel-fed fire resulted from any defect with that vehicle,” Mazda said in the statement.

Mazda “is currently considering all grounds for appeal,” the statement added.

You can reach Hannah Lutz at hlutz@crain.com.

Jury Awards $55.3 Million for a Defective Seatbelt in a Honda Vehicle

Posted on December 10, 2015February 4, 2019 by 1p21.admin

Stewart J. Eisenberg and Daniel J. Sherry, Jr. of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C. represent a man who became a quadriplegic after a vehicle rollover.

PHILADELPHIA, June 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — A jury has awarded a record-setting $55.3 million to a man who became a quadriplegic after his 1999 Acura Integra, which is manufactured by the Honda Motor Company, rolled over and his seatbelt failed to prevent his head from striking the roof. Following a nine-day trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the jury unanimously determined the vehicle’s seatbelt was defectively designed and Honda failed to use a safer design alternative and to provide adequate warnings to consumers about the Acura’s defective design.

During a 1992 rollover test, Honda found that a seat-belted driver would strike his or her head on the Integra’s roof but performed no further testing in an attempt to protect drivers from this hazard.

This record-setting auto defect verdict in Pennsylvania includes $25 million for Mr. Martinez’s non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, $14.6 million for his future medical expenses, $15 million for his wife’s loss of consortium, and $720,000 for loss of earnings.

“Honda’s failure to alert the public to this hazard caused Mr. Martinez to suffer debilitating and painful injuries. This incident could and should have been avoided by a safer design that already existed. Through this verdict, we are hoping to prevent such unnecessary and devastating injuries from happening to others,” said attorney Stewart J. Eisenberg of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C. Stewart J. Eisenberg and Daniel J. Sherry, Jr. represented Mr. Martinez in the case.

SOURCE Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, PC

Watts Guerra LLP was not involved in the creation of this content.

Hyundai America to appeal $248 million verdict over fatal crash

Posted on December 10, 2015 by 1p21.admin

(Reuters) – Hyundai Motor America said on Wednesday it would appeal a $248 million verdict awarded to the families of two boys killed in 2011 in a crash involving a Hyundai car they claimed was defective.

Jurors in Lake County, Montana, returned the verdict Tuesday following a two-week trial, according to Mark Williams, the lawyer who represented the family of Tanner Olson. Olson, 14, and his 19-year-old cousin, Trevor Olson, were killed when the 2005 Hyundai Tiburon they were riding in was involved in a crash, Williams said. The car was being driven by Trevor Olson.

Jurors deliberated for 12 hours before awarding the boys’ families a total of approximately $8 million in damages for their losses, and finding that South-Korea based Hyundai Motor Co and its U.S. subsidiary, Hyundai Motor America, had acted with “actual malice,”

according to the verdict sheet.

The jurors then ordered Hyundai and its U.S. unit to pay an additional $240 million in punitive damages, Williams said.

The families alleged that a component of the Hyundai known as the steering knuckle was defective, and blamed it for causing the accident that killed both boys. The part spontaneously cracked and caused the Hyundai to swerve into another car, they said.

Hyundai maintained that it was not to blame, and said that exploding fireworks in the car had caused the driver to lose control, according to a statement from the company.

A woman in the other car involved in the crash died as well. That was not part of the lawsuit, Williams said.

A Hyundai spokesman, Chris Hosford, said the company planned to immediately appeal the verdict. While the accident was tragic, the company believes the verdict is “outrageous, and should be overturned as Hyundai is not at fault,” he said in a statement.

Williams said the plaintiffs were pleased with verdict. “We’re grateful for the jurors’ hard work,” he said.

The case is Olson v. Hyundai Motor Co, Monathan Twentieth Judicial District Court – Lake County, No. DV-11-304.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Ted Botha and Leslie Adler)

Mobile County jury slaps Kia with $40 million wrongful death verdict

Posted on December 10, 2015 by 1p21.admin

MOBILE, Alabama — Parents of a Mobile County
teenager who was killed in a car accident in 2004
received a $40 million wrongful death judgment this week against Kia Motors and the makers of a seatbelt buckle.

Tiffany Stabler was ejected from her car on Ben Hamilton Road in west Mobile on July 4 that year. Witnesses for the plaintiffs said that she was wearing her seatbelt, while officials with Kia maintained that she was not.

The Theodore High student was driving a 1999 Kia Sephia that her father had bought for her 16th birthday, just two months prior. She lost control of the car, which struck a sign and overturned.

According to testimony, Kia officials knew that seatbelts in the 1999 model vehicles were faulty, but did not include them in a recall of 1995-1998 vehicles.

“It was just a completely preventable, completely avoidable situation,” said Skip Finkbohner, a lawyer with the Cunningham Bounds firm of Mobile, who represented Stabler’s family.

“I’m satisfied that the court system has done what was within its ability to do,” Finkbohner said, “but I feel bad for the family. Kia should have recalled all of the vehicles, not just some of them, particularly because the defect was in a safety device. It’s not like it was a cigarette lighter or a radio. This is the single most important safety device in the car.”

An emailed statement provided by Kia said: “Kia Motors America is disappointed with the findings by the jury. While this was certainly a tragic event, our position remains that the driver of the vehicle was not wearing a seat belt. We will petition the court to set aside this verdict.”

According to Finkbohner, Kia was aware that Sephias and Sportages made in 1999 and 2000 had the same faulty seatbelt buckles as the vehicles it recalled in December 2002. The company did not recall the 1999 and 2000 models until August 2004.

“People were riding around in those cars that year and a half, and that’s what happened to my clients’ daughter,” Finkbohner said. “My client got the car, put tires on it, made sure it was safe for his daughter and gave it to her for her birthday.”

Stabler was the daughter of Randy Vise and Tonya Leytham.

A Mobile County jury began hearing testimony in the lawsuit in Circuit Court Judge Charles Graddick’s courtroom on June 13 and entered the $40 million judgment against Kia Motors Corp., Kia Motors America, and Celltrion DBI Inc. on Thursday night.

Half Million Texas Workers Not Covered by Workplace Insurance

Posted on April 24, 2014 by 1p21.admin

At least a half-million Texas workers have no occupational insurance coverage, either from workers’ compensation or from a private equivalent, Texas Department of Insurance officials said Tuesday.

Texas is the only state in the country where the decision to carry workers’ compensation insurance or a private equivalent is voluntary for companies of any size. All other states mandate occupational insurance coverage.

Workers’ Compensation and Non-Subscribers

In Texas, if an employer subscribes to an approved workers’ compensation policy, that serves as a bar to a personal injury lawsuit. Workers’ comp will be the injured party’s only remedy against their employer. If the worker dies, the bar against suit does not remain intact in a wrongful death claim.

People who suffer workplace accidents can sue employers without workers’ compensation insurance directly. Unfortunately, the businesses that forego paying for workers’ comp often have few assets, so there is no one to sue and no money to recover. Workers’ compensation nonsubscriber claims are a mixed bag – you won’t know what policy (if any) or what assets a potential defendant has without suing them, which costs an already injured party money.

Only a tiny percentage of Texas employers comply with requirements to notify the state about their workplace coverage or lack thereof. In 2012, 81 percent of Texas employees were covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Of the uninsured, about 70 percent have some type of private occupational insurance (of varying quality and benefits).

State legislators are discussing proposals to make workers’ compensation coverage mandatory for at least danger-prone industries such as construction.