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

A lot of our readership is NC based and they often email me asking when we'll post something dealing with prison misconduct or malpractice.  Those are our other two major practice areas and we are currently involved in police and prison misconduct lawsuits as well as malpractice lawsuits here in NC.

While we would like to keep this blog focused on products liability to the exclusion of these, we will, from time to time, post on prisoner rights issues and other legal topics of interest.

For example, I read an article from the Fayetteville Observer discussing Cumberland County's Detention Center and its recent outbreak with MRSA.  The article can be found here, and more discussion of this news is on the flip. Continue Reading...

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Today the US  Consumer  Product Safety Commission announced a recall  involving Kolcraft play yards after a 10 month old died.

CPSC received a report of a 10-month old boy who strangled on the changing table’s restraint strap that was hanging down into Kolcraft’s “Sesame Beginnings” Travel Play Yard where the child was located.

These play yards were sold from 2001 to 2007. What is terribly frightening is to speculate the number of households  that  have these play yards  since they have been on the market for  several years.  I  know our household has one, as do "the grandparents".  Please read the announcement here and make  sure if you have one,  you  remove the  changing  pad/cradle area when your child is  in the  play yard.

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Approximately 1 million simplicity  cribs were recalled earlier this week.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today a voluntary recall with Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa., of about 1 million cribs. The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants. CPSC is aware of two deaths in Simplicity manufactured cribs with older style hardware, including a 9-month-old child and a 6-month-old child, where the drop-side was installed upside down. CPSC is also aware of seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs.

What is most frustrating about this recall  to  me, is that the first death occurred over  two and a half years ago. It appears that two deaths occurred with older hardware, and a third death  has  now occurred with  the  newer hardware.  The question arises...what took so long to have this investigated? Read the announcement here.

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Car fires are hot.  They burn just about everything inside.  And everyt ime one of them occurs, you can bet eyebrows get raised at the manufacturing plant.  If a car is well made and well cared for, it shouldn't burst into flames under normal use.

Todd Tracy, perhaps best known for his work on vehicle aggressivity, has filed an engine fire lawsuit in Texas against General Motors, the manufacturer of the 2004 Chevy Malibu which burst into flames after the car slide off the road and impacted with a signage pole on the side of I-45.  The resulting fire killed the driver and four of his family members.

Our firm is also currently involved in the investigative stage of a car fire lawsuit here in NC.  These types of cases pose interesting challenges for the plainittf's lawyer, and at the end of day are undoubtedly tough ones to bring to a jury.  But they are also inexplicable tragedies, and typically just a small correction in the quality control process could prevent the fire from ever starting in the first place.  Though I'm sure Tracy's firm doesn't need it, we do wish them best of luck in what is sure to be a demanding case.

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Daimlerchrysler issued a recall for certain 2007 Doge Rams.

Component: POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT

Potential Number Of Units Affected : 1498

Summary: ON CERTAIN TWO WHEEL DRIVE TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS, THE FRONT DRIVESHAFT YOKE MAY BREAK UNDER CERTAIN DRIVING CONDITIONS.

Consequence: THIS COULD RESULT IN A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL AND CAUSE A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DRIVESHAFT FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING SEPTEMBER 2007. OWNERS MAY CONTACT DAIMLERCHRYSLER AT 1-800-853-1403.

Notes: DAIMLERCHRYSLER RECALL NO. G32. CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

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If your children  wear crocs, please keep an eye on them as they ride escalators.  There seem to be  numerous cases of  crocs  getting caught  in  the  "teeth" of the  escalator or in between the  moving stairs. 

According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some report the shoes get caught in the "teeth" at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator.

The reports of serious injuries have all involved young children. Crocs are commonly worn by children as young as 2. The company introduced shoes in its smallest size, 4/5, this past spring.

Something to definitely be aware of as you and your children  ride escalators. Read the whole story here.

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Car seat installation can seem daunting.  If you are unsure about the installation of  your child's car seat,  please have it inspected...better safe than  sorry.  Click here for a link to find an inspection station near you.

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The NHTSA announced tougher standards for passenger vehicles in side impact crashes. The new standard requires auto manufacturers to provide head protection in side impact crashes.  This only  seems to make  common sense.  When someone is involved in a side impact crash, the person's head is extremely vulnerable to traumatic injury.  As a matter of fact, even in  a frontal  collision, there is  a great likelihood that the person's head, will fall to the  side and is vulnerable to sustaining injury  from the side as well.  At least these higher standards are a step in the right direction.  Read the new standards here.

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Just read a good article over at the Washington Post on the rising tide of federal agency rules that include preemptive language.

One of the most difficult issues the plaintiff's bar faces in product liability actions is the mounting attacks on state sovereignty posed by the doctrine of federal preemption.  It isn't ideologically familiar ground for trial lawyers to fight on: that state law should be protected against federal regulations.  Yet, in today's climate, preemption rules declared by over eager executive agencies threaten the common law rights of state citizens across the nation.  What is especially alarming is the relationship between the increase in federal rule making and campaign contributions to the executive's party.  This can't be seen any longer as simply enforcing the constitutional standard that where federal law and state law conflict, federal law wins.  It isn't preemption in fact, the new game is now intervention. Continue Reading...

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With 70,000 students riding school buses on 2,100 routes in Wake County, there are bound to be mishaps.

But the parents of one local kindergartener said even one accident was too many when their son’s first bus ride landed him in the emergency room.  Read More

First off, it is extremely unnerving that this child's stop was missed not once but twice in the same day, even after his parents brought it to the  attention of the school.  But moreover, it makes one wonder about the safety of the students on the bus.  As we here at the firm, are constantly evaluating car seats, safety belts, crashworthiness of automobiles, and more, a story like this makes us wonder about the safety of the children on those  buses.  It appears this little boy stood up when he noticed the driver missing his stop, and therefore fell, causing an injury to his head.  As we have learned through many cases, what may appear as a slight contusion to the head at first sometimes is just the  beginning.  Should there be seat belts or something on the buses to help keep children from standing and consequently falling while on the  bus?  Something to think about....

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Here is yet another child seat recall report.  What is most disturbing is that Britax has in the past seemed to have a better reputation for their car seats.

Summary: CERTAIN BRITAX MARATHON CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS, MODELS E9L06, E9W06, AND E906, MANUFACTURED FROM MAY 23 THROUGH JULY 28, 2006. DURING TESTING, THE TETHER HOOK OPENED WHICH FAILS TO CONFORM TO THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM INTEGRITY REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 213, CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS.

Consequence: THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT YET PROVIDED THE AGENCY WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSEQUENCE AS IT RELATES TO MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY.

Remedy: BRITAX HAS NOT YET PROVIDED THE AGENCY WITH A REMEDY AND NOTIFICATION SCHEDULE.

Notes: CUSTOMERS MAY CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

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New additions to the featured links section on the right hand scroll... I've added all the North Carolina legal blogs that have either been referred to me by someone else, or mentioned favorably in passing by someone else (so they aren't just my faves, but faves of others as well!)

They are, to date:

• Chris Nichols at the NC Trial Law Blog (we've mentioned Chris before over here);
• The Deuterman Law Group's NC Worker's Comp Blog;
• J. Kevin Morton's Disability Law Blog;
• Womble Carlye's NC Appellate Blog; and
• the Business Litigation Blog run by Wilmington, NC attorney Tom Kerner.

I've been reading the Deuterman Group's blog and Chris Nichols' blog for quite some time, all are highly recommended as good sources and rest stops for the weary.  Check them out today if you can!  Hopefully we'll find more additions to the NC law blogging community soon... will update accordingly.

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On August 30, 2007 some Dorel Juvenile Group  (DJG) issued a recall which may affect a potential 1,267,978 units.

Continue Reading...

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