Pennsylvania Car Defect Lawyers

  We hold negligent automakers responsible so that you can move forward and no one else gets hurt.
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Defective Car Lawyers in PA for the Greater Good

Defective automobiles may be more common than anyone realizes. More than one in five cars in the U.S. had an open recall in 2018, according to Stout’s Automotive Defect & Recall Report.

Though the number of vehicles affected was lower than in past years, recall campaigns rose from 2017 to 2018. The most common defect was electronic, including software. Even excluding Takata, the number of airbag recalls also remained high.

A recall doesn’t inherently mean a vehicle is dangerous. But, this brings into question overall vehicle safety. When auto defects cause someone harm, we’re here to hold the automaker accountable.

We All Deserve Better

The defective vehicle attorneys at Atlee Hall want to improve vehicle safety for everyone. We pursue defective product claims against vehicle and auto part manufacturers to hold them to a high standard and deter them from being careless during future design and manufacturing processes.

We have genuine trial experience in the complex area of product liability law. We leverage this experience and our history of success to secure excellent outcomes for our clients and, we hope, make driving safer for everyone on the road.

Auto Accident Injuries & Defective Auto Part Cases

If you or a loved one suffer from severe or catastrophic injuries, it’s time to talk to a lawyer. Our in-house staff nurse, network of medical experts, and team of experienced Pennsylvania car defect lawyers dig deeper into your case to discover what happened and why. Types of car defects include:

What is a defective car?

A defective vehicle isn’t crashworthy, usually due to a vehicle design defect or manufacturing defect.

What is crashworthiness?

Because accidents are foreseeable, vehicle manufacturers have a legal duty to design and build crashworthy vehicles. That means cars need to be safe enough to prevent injuries and deaths during a collision.

A crashworthy vehicle is designed and built to minimize and distribute the force inside the vehicle to mitigate the occupant’s injuries.

Which parts of a car have to be crashworthy?

The entire vehicle and its components must be crashworthy, including:

  • Seats
  • Seat belts
  • Seat backs
  • Tires
  • Gas tanks
  • Door latches
  • Roofs
  • Airbags
  • Side-impact protection

This also includes any technology that comes with the vehicle to improve performance and safety, such as lane keep assist, blind-spot detection systems, and adaptive cruise control, also must be crashworthy.

Who’s responsible for a vehicle’s crashworthiness?

Crashworthiness is a measure of whether a vehicle manufacturer designed the vehicle and its components to be safe to use. If you were hurt in a car accident and find the vehicle wasn’t crashworthy due to a defective part or design, you may hold the manufacturer liable.

What kinds of defects are there?

There are three categories of product defects: design, manufacture, and failure to warn defects.

  • Design defects are inherent in the product and affect each unit produced.
  • Manufacturing defects arise during the manufacturing and assembly process. This type of defect impacts some of the units.
  • A failure to warn means the product lacks necessary instructions or warnings. This defect could impact all or some of the units.

When does a defect lead to an auto recall?

Auto recalls tend to be for specific parts that the manufacturer learns fail or don’t work efficiently. Manufacturers are required to provide free repairs for safety recalls on vehicles up to 15 years old. A vehicle is returned to the factory for repairs, purchased back, or replaced in rare situations.

Defective Automobile Compensation & Setting Things Right

In Pennsylvania, when you or a loved one are hurt because of a defective vehicle, the way to achieve justice is by demanding compensation.

While settlements or verdicts are meant to make you whole, they also force automakers to change. By demanding justice and not backing down, you’re fighting for every driver and passenger out there.

Making You Whole Again

Compensation from a defective product lawsuit is called damages and can be broken down into:

  • Economic Damages: These consist of your past and future monetary expenses and losses, such as your medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and other out-of-pocket costs.
  • Non-Economic Damages: These are for your intangible losses, including pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, embarrassment, humiliation, and reduced enjoyment of life.
  • Wrongful Death & Survival Damages: Particular surviving family members may be entitled to damages for the loss of a spouse, child, or parent, such as medical bills, funeral costs, estate expenses, and loss of their loved one’s future income. Survival damages are different. Your relative’s estate can recover for your loved one’s pain and suffering and lost earnings.
  • Loss of Consortium: This compensation is for spouses who’ve lost their loved one’s services, assistance, support, comfort, companionship, and sexual relationship.

At Atlee Hall, we hold negligent automakers accountable and focus on improving your situation. That’s why we go above and beyond when assessing your damages. We paint a vivid picture for the court to prove what it will take to make you whole again.

How to Prove Automobile Defects?

Even if we intend to resolve your claim with a negotiated settlement, our Pennsylvania car defect lawyers prepare every case as if we’re going to trial. We have years of success in the courtroom. We know what it takes to craft a compelling argument the other side can’t defeat.

Call Out Negligent Automakers. We’ll Help.

It takes skill and considerable experience to get justice if you’ve been wronged by an automaker or auto parts manufacturer. And while we can’t turn back time, the team at Atlee Hall can make things better and force manufacturers to answer for their carelessness.

 

3 Steps to Win Your Case

 

01Investigate

We dig deep to uncover evidence. We also partner with top automotive and product experts to reconstruct the design or manufacturing defect that led to your injuries. We’ll uncover what happened and why.

02Analyze

Once we’ve gathered all the evidence immediately available and more during discovery, we identify the root cause of the car accident and your injuries. We get to the bottom of who is liable.

03Illustrate

We thoroughly document your injuries and how they impacted your life and future. It’s essential that we fully demonstrate what you’re going through because of the defective car or car part.

Car Defects FAQs

 

What should I do if my vehicle has a defect?

If you learn your vehicle is under a recall, have the defective part replaced at the dealership as soon as possible. If you discover your vehicle may have had a defect after you or a loved one were hurt in a crash, contact Atlee Hall’s defective car lawyers right away.

Should I talk to an insurance company about the accident?

No, you aren’t required to answer questions or give a recorded statement, and you shouldn’t. If another driver or auto maker’s insurance company contacts you, say you’ll get back to them after speaking with your attorney.

How does an insurer determine fault?

Whether an automaker is at fault for your crash depends on whether you can prove a part of the vehicle was defective and the defect caused your injuries. The automaker may fight back and claim you were careless and caused the crash yourself. However, you can still recover compensation as long as you were less than 51% at fault based on Pennsylvania’s modified comparative fault rule.

What do I need to prove in an auto defect lawsuit?

It depends upon the type of products liability lawsuit, which could be negligence, breach of warranty, or strict liability. If you have to establish negligence, then you must prove the automaker breached its legal duty to consumers. If you’re suing based on strict liability, you may only need to prove the defect existed and caused your injury. This is a complex area of law that a products liability law firm can help you navigate.

How long do I have to file a car defects case?

You typically have two years from when you were hurt to file a defective products lawsuit. But it’s best to talk with a lawyer right away because various factors may give you more or less time to file.