Crash Reconstruction Helps Find Defects
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When a loved one is unexpectedly lost, it can be difficult for those left behind to move forward with their life. It is that much harder if the negligence of another party is to blame for the unexpected death. This negligence can take many forms and could involve defective products.
These defects are not always easy to see. Fortunately there are experts in various fields who work to expose them. Where vehicles are concerned, Transport Canada’s Chief of Crashworthiness Research may be able to uncover the issue. Recently, an accident reconstruction she created uncovered issues with seatbelts in a popular SUV.
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Using the same type of vehicles, crash test dummies and data recorders, the woman recreated a head-on crash in which the vehicle’s passengers who were sitting in the front survived, while those in the rear were killed. The case was particularly interesting since most crashes of this nature leave those in the rear in better condition than those sitting in front.
In the recreation, the collision caused the seatbelts in the back of the vehicle to be severed, in the same way that one of them in the original crash was. While up until that point there was an assumption that the paramedics who were called to the scene to help, cut the seatbelt, the recreation indicate something else was going on. Specifically, if in the course of a high-speed frontal crash, the if the seatbelts in the rear of Toyota RAV 4s model years 2006 to 2012, made contact with the steel seat structure of the second row, they could be severed. After Toyota replicated the tests the car maker conducted a voluntary safety recall campaign.
While nothing can be done to bring back someone who is lost in a crash due to a defective vehicles. When a product has a flaw or does not work as intended and an injury or death occurs as a result, it may be possible to take legal action against the negligent party.
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