North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

Roof crush standards currently require that the roof withstand 1.5 times its weight in a roll over. However, that is not strong enough to help occupants necessarily survive one of the deadliest types of crashes: car rollovers which kill approximately 10,000 people a year. Now, the US Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood announced new tougher standards.

The new regulation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will double the current roof strength requirement for light vehicles weighing up to 6,000 pounds. It specifies that both the driver and passenger sides of the roof must be capable of withstanding a force equal to three times the weight of the vehicle.

The current standard calls for roofs to withstand 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle, applied to one side of the roof, for light vehicles up to 6,000 pounds.

Heavier vehicles from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds, which have never been regulated, must now have both sides of the roof capable of withstanding a force equal to 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle.

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With the unofficial start to summer kicking off this holiday weekend, we felt it important to revisit an issue we discussed before: pool and spa safety and drains. New regulations have gone into effect requiring newer safer drains.  Older drains have long since caused children to become entrapped, either causing severe bodily injury or death. The CPSC issued a new report today on pool and spa safety and revisited the drain issue.

New data (PDF) from CPSC also shows that from 1999 through 2008, there were 83 reports of pool and spa entrapments, including 11 deaths and 69 injuries. Since 1999, 14% of the reported suction/entrapment incidents at pools or spas were fatal.

The Pool and Spa Safety Act (P&SSAct) went into effect on December 19, 2008 and requires all public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers, and in certain circumstances, an additional anti-entrapment system. CPSC has prioritized public wading pools, kiddie pools and in-ground spas as the key areas of focus for enforcement and has called upon state departments of health to assist the agency in enforcing the law.

CPSC is also announcing the launch of a new Web site - www.PoolSafety.gov - which serves as a valuable source for information about the P&SSAct and drowning prevention. The new site provides information for the general public, the swimming pool and spa community, state and local officials, and the media.

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Several air bags have been recalled involving different car manufacturers. Many of these recalls have to with sensor problems causing the air bag either to fail in its deployment, or to go off causing serious injury to the passenger.

• GM: 12,662 2009 Cadillac CTS sedans over a software problem that may disable the front-passenger air bag when it should be enabled or vice versa.

• Nissan: more than 200,000 2007-08 Altima, 350Z, Murano and Rogue and Infiniti EX35, G35 and G37 vehicles to fix a sensor for the passenger-side air bag. Nissan is also recalling 16,365 2006 Murano and 2008 Infiniti EX35 SUVs to fix incorrectly programmed software that may lead passenger-side air bags to fail.

• BMW: 200,000 2006 3 Series and 2004-06 5 Series cars and 2004-06 X3 SUVs over concerns that the front-passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash. Small cracks could develop in a seat detection mat and deactivate the bags but activate the warning light.

• Hyundai: is recalling 393,714 2006-08 Sonata sedans to fix a problem with the air-bag system in the front passenger seat. The affected cars have an advanced system that disables the passenger front bag when it detects a child-restraint system or small child in the seat.

• Ford: is recalling 470,000 2005-08 Mustangs to update passenger-side front-air-bag software. Ford says internal testing showed the air bag could injure a small, unbelted passenger.

Read the article on chicagotribune.com

If you or someone you know has been injured due to an airbag or an airbag failure please contact our office at 919-677-0144.

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President Obama has asked Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) CEO, Charles Hurley to be the next administrator of NHTSA. The White House said that in addition to is work on drunk driving issues, Hurley has also an extensive background working on air bag, seat belt teen driving and child passenger safety  issues. All of which are very near and dear to our law firm. We focus on all areas of products liability, including child safety, air bag non deployment, car fires, roof crush, roll overs, and more.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has already is looking to the new administrator and NHTSA to address roof crush issues sooner rather than later.

The current roof standard has been in place since 1973, before SUVs were a common mode of consumer transportation. The roof crush standard addresses the safety of vehicles’ roofs to withstand pressure when involved in rollover accidents.

NHTSA was required to deliver a roof crush standard to Congress by July 1, 2008, but was ordered by Congress to strengthen their proposed rule because it did not significantly reduce loss of life and prevent injury.  NHTSA asked for an extension until December 15, 2008, and then revised the date for issuing the final rule to April 30, 2009.

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It was revealed yesterday that emails indicated the owner of Peanut Corp,, the company at the center of the salmonella outbreak involving peanuts, urged the sale of tainted paenut product because he was worried about losing money.

The owner of a peanut company urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella, imploring employees to "turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money," according to internal company e-mails disclosed Wednesday by a House committee.

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The CPSC issued a recall announcement February 4, 2009 involving approximately 100,000 Safety 1st SmartLight Stair Gates. Apparently the hinges which are to hold the stair gate in place can break which poses a serious fall hazard for children if the gate is at the top of the stairs.

Description: The recall involves the Safety 1st SmartLight Stair Gate with model number 42111, which is printed on a sticker under the handle panel. The gates, which were manufactured before December 31, 2007, are white metal with a gray handle and a motion sensor nightlight that illuminates on approach. The manufacture date is located below the gate's handle as a date wheel imprinted in the plastic; an arrow indicates the month, and the year is stamped inside the circle. The manufacture date is also printed on a sticker inside the battery door.

 

Sold at: Mass merchandise and juvenile product stores nationwide, including Babies R Us and Wal-Mart, from January 2005 through December 2007 for about $60.

For the entire notice visit the CPSC website.

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The fall out from the peanut and peanut product recalls seems to keep growing each day. Apparently there has been a link found between the Georgia company involved with the nationwide salmonella outbreak and schools in three states.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Agriculture Department shipped possibly contaminated peanut butter and other foods to schools in at least three states under a contract with the Georgia company blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

The government abruptly suspended all business with the company Thursday, as officials defended their efforts to halt the outbreak that has sickened at least 575 people in 43 states. At least eight have died. It's become one of the largest food recalls ever, including more than 1,300 products.

The potentially contaminated products went to school free lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho in 2007, the Department of Agriculture said Friday. Peanut butter and roasted peanuts processed by the Peanut Corp. of America were sent to the schools.

 

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Beginning February 10, 2009, children's products cannot be sold if they contain more than 600 parts per million (ppm) lead even if they were manufactured before this date. The total lead limit will drop again August 14, 2009 to 300 ppm.

The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties. For additional information visit www.cpsc.gov

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An interesting study was recently conducted regarding air bags and seat belt usage. Spine fractures occur very often after a motor vehicle crash and can lead to paralysis or death.

According to a new study, the combination of air bags and seat belts seem to lower the tendency of suffering a spine fracture during a motor vehicle crash.

The use of both seat belt and air bag was associated with decreased odds of a spine fracture. Use of an air bag alone was associated with increased odds of a severe thoracic, but not cervical spine fracture. Read the study here

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