subject: The Concept Of Crashworthiness [print this page] Crashworthiness and auto defects go hand in hand in proving the liability of the car manufacturers to its consumers.
Crashworthiness actually is a subset of product liability cases.
It refers to the ability of a vehicle to prevent injuries or death of its driver and passengers during a collision or a crash.
The occupants of the vehicle are subjected to a number of forces that can result to injury; these include rapid deceleration and acceleration (depending on the crashes direction of impact).
It primarily deals with the second collision that is caused by the first collision.
The first collision refers to the crash in an accident. There are various types of crashes like:
Head-on collisions
Rear-end collisions
Side impact collisions
Rollover accidents
The second collision refers to the results of the above forces where the driver and the passengers collide against the interior of the vehicle.
If the vehicle is crashworthy, then it should be able to distribute these dangerous forces over a certain period of time and distance as possible.
This includes distributing the force to other parts of the body that can withstand and handle these forces better.
To make a vehicle crash worthy, car manufacturers add safety features that are designed to minimize or totally prevent ejection from the vehicle, risk of fire, and occupant injury.
Some of these safety features are:
Seatbelts
Airbags (including side impact bags)
Crumple zones
One thing to remember about using crashworthiness to prove liability is that the cause of the accident is usually considered unimportant or irrelevant to the case.
The concept of crashworthiness is usually used to prove the liability of the manufacturer for the injuries sustained from a car accident because of the car defect.
The car defect does not have to be the cause of the accident but it should have caused the injuries or made the injuries worse.
In essence, the concept of crashworthiness is concerned about whether the manufacturer designed the car and its parts so that it can be safe for any possible use.
And the major concern is that a collision is one of its possible uses; therefore, the manufacturers have a responsibility to design and produce a car that is safe if ever it is involved in a collision in the future.
To make a car accident compensation claim on the basis of crashworthiness, you will need to prove that a certain design feature either caused the injury or increased the risk of injury.
The injuries sustained because of a cars crashworthiness are considered separate from the injuries sustained from the accident itself.
The distinction between the two can be difficult to prove especially when to showing an enhanced injury from the second collision beyond the injury from the first collision.
To help you in your case, you should consult a car accident attorney who is an expert on the concept of crashworthiness.
Your lawyer should be able to help you in establishing your crashworthiness case by gathering evidences and enlisting the help of expert vehicle design and safety consultants.
