Have you ever taken a close look at the number of fatal car crashes that happen in Alabama? It’s a number that can seem rather alarming and leave people to question why it’s as high as it is. According to Drive Safe Alabama, there is a car crash reported every three minutes and 55 seconds (as of 2020), and in that same year there were 932 fatalities in car accidents. Doing the math, this works out to one fatality every nine hours and 20 minutes, which makes the statistic even more alarming.
While it’s true that there are several contributing factors in these fatal car crashes in Alabama, one question being asked is whether vehicle product liability is to blame. Here we’ll take a closer look at how vehicle product liability factors into the fatal car crashes in Alabama.
Understanding Vehicle Product Liability
Before we can explore the role that vehicle product liability plays in fatal car crashes in Alabama, it’s important to pull the curtain back and explore what it means. When you picture a vehicle, it may look rather simple, but under the hood and behind the flashy interior is a complex network of components and parts.
Each of these items plays an important role in the safe operation of the vehicle. Should one of these parts be faulty, it can cause the vehicle to not react or operate properly and even cause the driver to crash. It is the manufacturer that can then be held liable.
Some of the most common components found to be faulty here in Alabama include:
- Car doors
- Tires
- Airbags
- Fuel system
- Seatbelts
- Accelerator pedals
Should any one of these parts not work properly, it puts the driver and passengers at risk of serious injury, and in the worst-case scenario, even death.
Peeling Back the Statistics Further
In looking at the statistics in Alabama, vehicle product liability isn’t necessarily something that shows up on graphs and charts but is usually lumped into the “other reasons” category. But what’s interesting is that this “other” category tends to have the largest number of fatalities.
Finding the specific data about vehicle product liability isn’t clear-cut but judging by the fact that it’s in this category, it shows just how much to blame it may be. It’s the kind of reason that people don’t tend to talk about, and manufacturers most definitely don’t want you to be aware of or concerned by it.
Other Reasons Fatal Car Accidents Occur in Alabama
So, while it’s true that vehicle product liability shouldn’t be ruled out and does play a part in car accident fatalities, there is more to it than just that.
In looking at the most common reasons for car accident fatalities, these are some of the most common factors in Alabama:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Not wearing a seatbelt
- Poor weather or road conditions
- Night-time driving
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Tailgating
- Failure to yield
- Fatigue
- Improper lane change
- Driving on the wrong side of the road
And it’s not even you that may be guilty of these things; it could be that another driver on the road is guilty and then hits another vehicle, causing a fatality in that car.
Proving Vehicle Product Liability Isn’t as Easy as You May Think
It’s worth noting that proving vehicle product liability isn’t as simple as you may think. For the family members of the deceased, it can be a very stressful and lengthy process to prove negligence on the manufacturer’s part and be awarded fair compensation.
This is why we at Monge & Associates want to help, as we are well-versed in fatalities caused by vehicle product liability. We know that the surviving family members are going through a horrible time of grieving and don’t want to deal with fighting an insurance company. These wrongful death cases can also drag on a fair amount of time, which, again, is stressful without a Montgomery or Birmingham personal injury lawyer on your side.
We invite you to come in and visit us at one of our office locations. We have offices in 32 cities/towns across 19 states. Besides Alabama, you can also find locations in Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and South Carolina. We want to help you heal so you can move on. The psychological effects can be incredibly difficult for surviving family members.
Call now for a free consultation at 800-421-0174 if you have a family member who you believe has died due to a vehicle product liability. We are here to help.