San Antonio Injury Lawyer Blog

Potential serious injuries and death may result from riding a defective All-Terrain Vehicle. San Antonio, Texas purchasers and those across the State of Texas and the United States should be made aware that if they purchased a Polaris ATV that was manufactured between January 2009 and August 2009, the vehicle may have a defective front suspension joint stem that can cause the rider to lose control of steering during operation. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the recall involves approximately 8,500 Polaris Sportsman 2009 and 2010 models. The specific model numbers are listed at the CPSC recall website.

Many people are injured every year riding ATVs. Some of these injuries are the result of careless driving. However, when the product is defective and steering control is lost, causing injury, paralysis or death, a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident should be conducted. What may have been thought to be momentary carelessness on the part of the driver may very well have actually been caused by a defect in the design or manufacturing process. Texas product liability laws provide for compensation to victims that have been injured as a result of a poor product design, a defective component, or inadequate warnings and instructions on the use of a product.

If you purchased a Polaris Sportsman ATV, stop using it immediately and visit the CPSC website or call your local Polaris dealer to determine whether your vehicle needs to be repaired.

Severe personal injury, including amputation of fingers, is the reason behind a recall of Graco strollers. About 1.5 million strollers, many of which have been sold in San Antonio and throughout Texas, are being recalled due to faulty latches that fail to lock the stroller in place when opened. This can result in the stroller collapsing, causing broken bones and severe lacerations requiring stitches. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) Graco has received over 500 complaints of injury from users of the Duo Tandem Stroller and the Metrolite Stroller. At least one injury resulted in the child requiring 46 stitches to close the wound. The strollers were manufactured between 1994 and 2002, and were sold nationwide at various discount stores, department stores and children’s stores for prices ranging between $80-$200. By checking the recall notice at the CPSC website, purchasers of Graco products can review the involved model numbers/serial numbers.

Defective products, especially products designed for children, can cause serious, long-term injuries and victims should contact experienced lawyers to investigate. In addition to government recalls, there are databases that should be maintained by manufacturers, and all necessary information should be sought in order to best protect future product users, as well as compensate those that have already been harmed.

Many Texas drivers take the option of adding Uninsured/Underinsured insurance protection when buying auto insurance. Since many San Antonio and Texas automobiles are not insured, or only have minimum required liability insurance, paying for this coverage makes sense. If you are in an auto accident with a driver that causes serious injury, and the at-fault driver does not have insurance, or does not have enough insurance to properly compensate you for your losses, the uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) insurance protection on your policy is supposed to compensate you for any losses that are not covered by the at-fault driver.

For years, Texas courts held that since an injured person was dealing with their own insurance company, and seeking compensation for losses covered by UM/UIM protection, that an insurance company must act in good faith and reasonably pay those claims. There was an added consideration - since the insurance policy is a contract - Texas law provides that when a contract is breached, the party in violation owes attorney fees as an additional penalty. Therefore, when a UM/UIM claim was submitted, the insurance company acted reasonably to avoid paying additional penalties in the form of attorney fees.

However, in late 2006 the Texas Supreme Court decided that insurance companies do not have an obligation to pay attorney fees until a person takes the company to court, and obtains a verdict against the company, and then, ONLY, if the insurance company does not pay within 30 days, can attorney fees be added. Essentially, today, UM/UIM insurance companies have been placed in the position of being able to sit back and force their policy holders to go to court, without incurring any penalty. All the while, the insurance company is earning interest on the money, and hoping that policy holders will not have the stamina to fight to the end.

If you have been injured by an uninsured driver, or if the injuries you have received exceed the liability coverage of the at-fault driver, you need experienced help fighting these claims if you want to recover your legal losses.

San Antonio and all Texas motorcycle riders should be aware of a recent recall issued from the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) - a division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The product defect recall involves certain 2009 and 2010 BMW model K1300 and K1300 GT motorcycles.

According to published reports, motorcycles manufactured between September 11, 2008 and November 19, 2009 may be prone to a build up of small deposits within the throttle bodies - pronounced with poor fuel quality. The build up of deposits, especially during engine operation at low RPM's, can result in engine stall. Given that these effects occur typically during low RPM range driving, such as when coming to a stop, engine stall may lead to a vehicle crash and potential serious personal injury.

The safety recall is expected to be addressed by BMW in January, when repair of the problems will begin - free of charge to owners. Further information may be obtained from NHTSA, referencing Campaign ID No.:09V471000.

Serious injury can occur to the most prudent riders of motorcycles, as a result of neglect by other vehicle operators not paying attention to the two-wheeled users of the roadway.
Adding a product defect that could result on engine stall only increases the chances of a wreck occurring. If an engine stalls as a result of this build up - even if a car operator behind the motorcycle is paying attention, the sudden loss of momentum may result on the nmotorcyle being rear-ended, and the rider suffering serious injury.