Product Safety News

March 15, 2009 -

A report issued by a group of safety advocates and victims is calling for basic changes in the design of the Yamaha Rhino and other UTVs to substantially increase their ability to protect occupants in the event of rollover accidents.

March 11, 2009 -

Industry experts estimate that as many as 1 out of 25 previously deployed air bags are not properly replaced. A new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finds that nearly one in five fatal accidents involve cars that have missing air bags. This problem endangers the lives of used car buyers, current owners and innocent passengers.

March 11, 2009 -

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed a rear-seat airbag that deploys between passengers and will install it on a model to be launched in Japan.

March 6, 2009 -

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in a case against pharmaceutical company Wyeth, concluding that the federal drug labeling law did not pre-empt the state court claim. The decision, however, is limited to this category of implied preemption in failure-to-warn claims.

March 1, 2009 -

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated rulemaking that will amend standards for rearview mirrors. The amendment to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 111 is intended to improve a driver’s ability to see areas to the rear of a motor vehicle, in order to mitigate fatalities and injuries associated with “backover incidents”, where drivers strike pedestrians they are unable to see behind the vehicle.

February 26, 2009 -

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL”) entered a Transfer Order on February 13, 2009, granting a motion to consolidate the pre-trial proceedings for 55 personal injury and wrongful death cases pending in federal court against Yamaha Motor Corporation. These product liability cases involve the Yamaha ATV model, Rhino, and prior to consolidation, had been filed as individual court actions throughout the United States. The consolidated cases have been assigned to the Honorable Jennifer B. Coffman in the Western District of Kentucky. These cases collectively allege that the Rhino ATV is defectively designed and prone to rollovers, causing occupant ejection and severe injuries, or in some cases, even death. According to the transfer order, centralization of the pre-trial proceedings would allow Yamaha to provide uniform discovery responses to each of plaintiffs’ counsel, prevent inconsistent rulings in the individual cases, and conserve the resources of all parties and courts involved.

February 5, 2009 -

15-passenger vans are used everyday by schools, day cares, churches and others, but many don’t realize they riding in what is arguably one of the most unsafe passenger vehicles on the road. Between 1990 and 2002, there were 1,576 15-passenger vans involved in fatal crashes that resulted in 1,111 fatalities to occupants of such vans. Of these, 657 vans were in fatal, single vehicle crashes, of which 349 rolled over.

February 5, 2009 -

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) new law imposing strict guidelines on any product intended for children’s use goes into effect on February 10, 2009. Called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, among other things, it would effectively ban the sales of small motorcycles and off-road vehicles intended for children under 12 years old due to the amounts of lead contained in its internal components.

January 27, 2009 -

New research published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine provides new evidence that the combination of air bags and seat belts affords the best protection against spine fractures sustained in motor vehicle crashes. This research examined the records of more than 20,000 crash victims age 16 and older admitted to Wisconsin hospitals after car or truck crashes from 1994 to 2002.

January 21, 2009 -

On the first day of the new Presidency, Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, issued a memorandum to all federal agencies to halt any pending regulations until the new administration can review them. This Memorandum directs federal agencies to immediately freeze all on-going regulatory proceedings, including regulations that may have been finalized prior to the end of the Bush Administration, but not yet effective. This step alone will address more than one-third of the regulations which seek to preempt state tort law.

January 16, 2009 -

Congressional investigators reported that the Food and Drug Administration approved 228 medical devices without a full scale review from 2003-2007. These devices, ranging from certain hip joints to a type of defibrillator, have won government approval without a close scientific review, causing concern over possible future recalls or problems.

January 16, 2009 -

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. announced a Safety Recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involving approximately 214,500 Lexus vehicles sold in the United States. On certain 2006 through 2008 model year GS300/350, IS250/350, and LS460/460L vehicles, Lexus has determined that some ethanol fuels with low moisture content may corrode the internal surface of the fuel delivery pipes. If this condition occurs, the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) in the combination meter may illuminate. Over time, the corrosion may create a pinhole in the fuel delivery pipes resulting in fuel leakage. Lexus dealers will replace the fuel delivery pipes with newly designed components. No other Lexus or Toyota vehicles are involved.

January 8, 2009 -

Child seat maker Britax has issued a recall for more than 31,000 Frontier™ child restraints that could fail to properly secure young passengers in the event of a vehicle crash. The recall, issued through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, indicates that harness straps may detach from the metal yoke on the back of the child restraint if repeatedly loosened one strap at a time. The affected models include Britax Frontier™ models E9L54E7, E9L54H6, E9L54H7, E9L54M6 manufactured on or before September 14, 2008, and model E9L5490 manufactured on or before September 17, 2008. Britax will mail rubber caps that prevent the straps from detaching to all registered owners.

December 31, 2008 -

A motion has been filed with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate and centralize Yamaha Rhino lawsuits that have been filed in various federal courts for pretrial litigation. The lawsuits allege that design defects in the side-by-side ATV caused the vehicle to rollover, resulting in serious and debilitating injuries for riders. Several plaintiffs who have pending cases are requesting that 57 Rhino ATV lawsuits be transferred from 33 different U.S. District Courts to one court where they will be coordinated as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation.

December 10, 2008 -

Chrysler is recalling 108,429 Dodge Ram Diesel Pick-Ups from model years 2007 and 2008 for fire risks. The risk stems from a flaw in an engine-compartment pad that can cause a fire. The recall involves Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups with a 6.7-liter diesel engine. 14 complaints have been received of engine fires in Dodge Rams, which might be related to the flaw and recall. According to the NHTSA Recall Notice Summary, the recalled trucks with a 6.7-liter diesel engine are equipped with a silencer pad that can sag, making contact with the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler, which can cause an engine compartment fire.

December 7, 2008 -

A review of federal records revealed that in the past decade, the airbags did not deploy in at least 180 car accidents where they should have. Experts say, sometimes airbags don't work. At least 400 traffic deaths in the past five years have involved airbag failures, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While some malfunctions can't be explained, others might be attributable to repair jobs that altered the safety device's trigger mechanism. Airbags are connected to sensors inside vehicle crumple zones, areas designed to absorb collision energy by giving way in a prescribed manner. The sensors instantly assess an impact and, if necessary, set off the appropriate airbags. Experts say that if a replacement part in a crumple zone doesn't collapse at precisely the same rate as the original, the vehicle's airbag might open too late -- or not at all. Automakers have warned that aftermarket parts can jeopardize an airbag's performance.

November 25, 2008 -

Seventy-two vehicles earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award for 2009. This is more than double the number of 2008 recipients and more than 3 times the number of 2007 winners. Top Safety Pick recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners also must have electronic stability control (ESC), which research shows significantly reduces crash risk. For the first time ever, winners represent every class of vehicle the Institute tests except microcars. Most car, minivan, and SUV models, midsize convertibles, and small and large pickups are eligible. Front and side impacts are the most common kinds of fatal crashes, killing about three-quarters of the 28,896 passenger vehicle occupants who died in 2007. A 2008 Institute analysis of insurance claims found that, all other factors being the same, drivers of vehicles with seat/head restraint combinations rated good in Institute evaluations were 15 percent less likely to sustain neck injuries in rear-end crashes than drivers of vehicles with poor head restraints.

November 18, 2008 -

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued new standards for four-wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) covering a variety of equipment and configuration issues including the maximum speed capability for ATVs and youth ATVs and the configuration of service and parking brakes. It also sets rules on the vehicle's pitch stability and sound level limits. ATVs will be required to have a certification label showing that they comply with the new standards. The CPSC first began investigating ATVs in 1987, when it filed a lawsuit against the five major ATV distributors in the U.S., seeking to declare the vehicles an imminently hazardous consumer product. ATV makers and sellers have until April to comply with the CPSC's final rule, published in the Federal Register on Friday. Before that date, manufacturers and distributors must provide the commission with an ATV action plan describing how they will implement the new safety rules.

November 7, 2008 -

Vehicle owners across the nation can be instantly informed of a safety recall under a new automated alert system from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall alerts can be received via e-mail or on personal computers, cell phones or PDA devices-automatically and free-of-charge. According NHTSA, there are about 600 vehicle recalls each year. Historically, one in four motorists ignore these recalls when they are announced. Under the new alert system, consumers can elect to receive all vehicle recalls as they are made public, or personalize the alerts to specific vehicles. To start receiving NHTSA's recall alerts, go to www.safercar.gov and select the “Email recall notifications” option.

October 27, 2008 -

Wichita Falls police have identified the 1-year-old girl who drowned Saturday. Police said it appeared the baby crawled through a pet door to get to the swimming pool.

October 14, 2008 -

General Motors is recalling 79 model year 2009 Chevrolet Impala vehicles. Some of these vehicles have a passenger-side front air bag inflator that could fracture during a deployment.  During a passenger-side air bag deployment, pieces of the inflator tube could strike and injure vehicle occupants, also causing the air bag cushion to not inflate fully, reducing the capability of the bag to protect the passenger.  Dealers will install a new passenger-side front air bag. Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438. 

October 3, 2008 -

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) upgraded its ongoing investigation into suspected defective tire valves to what it calls an Engineering Analysis. If the agency’s analysis finds that the tire valves, imported by Dill Air Controls Products, are indeed defective, the result could be a massive recall of approximately 23.5 million tire valves installed from August 2006 through July 2007.

October 1, 2008 -

Autoliv, a  global automotive safety systems supplier, has developed a new anti-sliding airbag that it says is 60 percent lighter than the existing anti-sliding airbag in order to help vehicle manufacturers meet the more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements by reducing weight. In a crash the airbag, which is installed in the seat cushion, raises the front end of the cushion to prevent the occupant from sliding under the seatbelt. This reduces the risk for knee injuries and provides a softer deceleration of the occupant since the crash energy can be absorbed more evenly by the frontal airbag when the occupant remains in an upright position. The new airbag will be introduced in the new two-door version of the 2009 Renault Megane that will be launched at the upcoming Paris Auto Show. This vehicle will have anti-sliding airbags for both front-seat positions.

September 30, 2008 -

Toyota announced that it has developed the world's first rear-window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision. The new airbag will debut in the Japanese market iQ microcar, an ultra-compact four-seat vehicle.

September 8, 2008 -

HDNet’s "Dan Rather Reports" investigates a product that's in homes across America and could be deadly - the red plastic gas containers sold by retail giants like Wal-Mart. But some experts say consumer gasoline cans are ticking time bombs that can unexpectedly explode.