Personal Injury Law

Supreme Court allows product safety lawsuit over seat belts

The United States Supreme Court has decided that federal regulations allow product safety lawsuits over seat belts. A recent update from the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association addressed the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that federal regulations setting vehicle safety standards do not bar lawsuits seeking damages from automakers for installing lap-only belts. The unanimous ruling regarding a California product liability lawsuit against automaker Mazda Motor Corp. after a 2002 fatal auto collision involving a 1993 Mazda minivan. The wrongful death lawsuit involved the death of a passenger sitting in a rear seat and wearing a lap-only seat belt. The wrongful death lawsuit claimed that the minivan was defectively designed because it was lacking a lap and shoulder seat belt for the rear seat.

In response, the auto maker replied that it complied with safety regulations in effect at the time. A state appellate court ruled that the product liability lawsuit could not proceed, but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling. Justice Breyer, writing for the Court, stated that the federal safety regulation did not pre-empt state tort lawsuits claiming that the auto manufacturers should have installed lap and shoulder belts, instead of lap-only belts, on rear inner seats.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on March 31, 2011 (boomark / email).