Protecting Your Children From Defective Car Seats

In this day and age of heightened safety concerns, it would be impossible to imagine someone driving with a small child who wasn’t secured in a car seat for protection. But it actually wasn’t that long ago that no one used car seats.

In fact, it was less than 40 years ago that the first state, Tennessee, enacted a law making it mandatory for drivers to use car seats for infants and small children. Since then, our understanding of safe driving procedures have advanced a great deal, with new regulations in all fifty states calling for stricter seat belt laws that have gone a long way to reducing traffic injuries and fatalities.

Unfortunately, you will probably be shocked to hear that despite all of our attention to safety, there are still far too many injuries that take place every year due to faulty or defective car seats. Tragically, if you have a child that has been injured because of a negligent manufacturer, it may already be too late.

Parents should be able to strap their children into their car seats and feel assured that they will be safe. Sadly, vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for children from 1 to 13 years old in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website has a great deal of helpful information for parents about how to pick out the best car seats. They also have the latest news on which car seats have been recalled because of poor design or malfunctioning parts.

The list of defects that can put your child at risk is long:

• Defective/three-point harness
• Base/shell separation
• Use of flammable/brittle materials
• Weak/broken shells
• Sudden release from faulty buckles/latches
• Unintended rotation
• Defective handle
• Poor design
• Sticky buckle

It’s no surprise then that the kinds of injuries that faulty car seats can cause are also extensive. They include broken limbs, fractured skulls, spinal cord and neck injuries, strangulation, burns, and broken noses. In the worst cases, death can be the result.

If you or a loved one has a child who has suffered injuries as a result of a poorly manufactured or poorly designed car seat, then you’ll justifiably be looking towards the manufacturer to receive fair and proper compensation. These large companies, however, will be protected by an expensive team of lawyers whose job is to limit their clients’ liability in such cases.

You need a team of New Jersey defective car seat lawyers who have the experience and the determination to successfully fight to ensure you achieve the best possible outcome. The attorneys at Lependorf & Silverstein, P.C. understand the difficulties you are faced with and we’ll do our best to advocate on your behalf. Call us at (609) 240-0040 to schedule a free consultation today.