Robert Reeves Blog

Santa Monica Woman Critically Injured in Hit and Run Accident

February 8th, 2010

A 28-year-old Santa Monica woman is recovering from injuries sustained in a pedestrian accident last week. Police have managed to arrest the hit and run driver who struck the woman and then fled the scene.

Brittany Norton was crossing a street in Santa Monica when she was struck by a man driven by Malibu-resident Cathy Jones. According to police accounts, Jones was trying to pass another vehicle, and entered the bicycle/parking area. At that moment, Norton stepped on the crosswalk. The van struck the woman with great force, and to the shock of witnesses, Jones simply drove off. One of those witnesses was alert enough to jump into his car and chase the van. He noted the van’s license number and informed the police.

Meanwhile, Norton is recovering from her injuries, but there is still no indication of the extent of the brain injury she has suffered. She is off the ventilator, is conscious and responding to questions. Apart from the severe head injury, she suffered several broken ribs and facial fractures.

Pedestrians are at serious risk of injury when they are involved in an accident. These are the most vulnerable people on the roads.  Unlike motorists, they do not have the protective armor of a car to shield them from injury, and unlike bicyclists and motorcyclists, they don’t wear helmets that can protect them from head injuries and brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury occurs after a person has received a severe blow to the head. Most often, brain injury lawyers in California see that these injuries are caused in major impact auto accidents, truck accidents, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, work place accidents and slip and fall accidents. They can also occur as a result of violence and assaults.

Pedestrians are at risk of traumatic brain injury in any accident. Impact with any kind of vehicle traveling even at normal speeds, can cause a pedestrian to be flung several feet away from the site of impact. The injuries that result can be extremely serious.

Besides, pedestrians may be at risk of a whole range of other injuries, including multiple fractures, body trauma injuries, broken ribs, amputations, and spine fractures. Fortunately, California laws allow victims of pedestrian accidents to claim damages for their losses.  Because of the severity of the injuries in this collision, a pedestrian may be looking at massive medical bills, including hospitalization costs, doctor fees, medication costs, cost of therapy, and surgeries. Besides, pedestrian accident damages can also cover income losses incurred as well as damages for pain and suffering. There may also be damages for loss of consortium. These damages are meant to compensate the spouse of the victim for loss of care and affection.

California’s laws allow pedestrians to be compensated even if they have been partially responsible for their own injuries. However, the damages may be lowered to a percentage of the .amount. A California pedestrian accident lawyer will be able to advise you of your options for recovery.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of pedestrian accident. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 5:18 pm: No comments

California Highway Patrol Focuses on Road Rage Incidents

February 5th, 2010

Road rage accidents don’t receive as much attention in California as alcohol-related car crashes, and more recently, distracted driving accidents. However, according to the California Highway Patrol, accidents caused by road rage or aggressive driving continue to cause several injuries and deaths every year.

Almost every motorist knows want it’s like to be at the receiving end of someone’s hostility. Most incidents of road rage in California pass off with rude gestures, yelling, shouting and other signs of anger. A vast majority of these incidents will not result in injuries or death. However, between 1990 and 2006, out of the 250,000 people killed in traffic accidents, 218 died as a result of road rage accidents.

One of the most severe of such incidents occurred in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties in July 2000. The incident was set off when a truck driver took umbrage at a motorcyclist, and began to chase him. The chase stretched for 20 miles until the truck driver finally struck the motorcyclist, Stockton-resident Michael McClatchy. McClatchy lost his right leg. The truck driver pleaded no contest to charges of felony hit and run.  He was fined, placed on probation for 3 years and ordered to undergo an anger management program.

Road rage-related incidents were heavily in the media spotlight during the 90s when there were more such incidents involving aggressive motorists. Those numbers seem to have tapered off somewhat, but a survey in 2006 showed that nationwide, many drivers continue to be at risk of losing their temper at other motorists on the road. According to the survey, at least half of motorists who were threatened with aggressive driving responded with aggressive driving behavior. These reactions included honking their horn (34 percent) making rude and obscene gestures (19 percent), and flashing their lights (17 percent).  The remainder responded in a kindly fashion, however there we a few instances of people trying to run other motorists off the road.

Road rage is more common in California where the congested highways and long commutes can lead to frayed tempers. Auto accident lawyers in California understand the pressure that motorists can be under when they are trying to make it home, and are stuck in seemingly endless traffic.

It’s important to understand that losing your cool while driving can have an adverse effect on you and your passengers.  You really don’t want to create a situation where you and your passengers are at risk from someone’s aggression. Avoid tailgating.

When someone wants to pass you, give them space and let them pass along.

Use your horn judiciously.  It is not meant to be used to signify your stress and anger at other motorists.

Avoid making rude gestures even when the other motorist is behaving aggressively towards you.

Stay calm and patient, and count to 10. Losing your temper only makes a bad situation worse.

Always respect the rights of other motorists to use the road.

Follow all traffic rules.

If a road rage situation is getting out of hand, take the next exit out of the freeway.  Else, dial 911 and report the motorist.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of auto accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 3:49 pm: No comments

Why did Dorel take Ten Years to Recall Defective Car Seats?

February 4th, 2010

Last month, Dorel Juvenile Group recalled approximately 4 million defective car seats because of defective restraining straps that did not meet federal safety standards. The car seats were made back in 2000 and 2001.  Consumer advocates and California product liability lawyers however have been surprised at why the company took this long to recall seats that were made almost a decade ago.

Dorel’s journey from manufacturing the car seats to finally pulling them off the market has been jotted with bureaucratic wrangling and the kind of delays at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that product liability attorneys in California have been concerned about.

According to the NHTSA, the recall was because of defective webbing on approximately 3,957,826 seats, which did not conform to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards for abrasion. On another 54,400 car seats, the webbing was found to be prone to deterioration to sunlight. This compromised webbing affects the reliability of car seats, and they may fail to provide enough protection during an accident.

The seats included in the recall were made between 8 and 10 years ago, and the models have been retired a long time back. In fact, most of the children who used these car seats are likely in middle or high school now. So, what caused this delay in the recall?

According to Consumer Reports, the main reason for the delay was wrangling between Dorel and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2001, tests by the agency showed that some of the car seats’ straps failed to meet NHTSA standards for abrasion resistance and tolerance to sunlight. The NHTSA found that over a period of time Dorel straps could become weak, and may not be able to secure the restraint during the crash. The agency informed Dorel that the car seats had to be recalled.

The following year, the company appealed, insisting that failure to meet NHTSA standards had nothing to do with motor vehicle safety. The company insisted that NHTSA standards were poorly drafted, and that in spite of its straps being in violation, they still continue to be safe. In 2005, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety asked the NHTSA to adopt well defined, minimum strength requirements for the straps. These guidelines had been vague until then.  In 2006, the NHTSA announced that it would revise the standards.

All this while, the 2000 appeal that Dorel had filed against the NHTSA’s request for a recall, was still pending. Finally, in 2008, the NHTSA denied the company’s 2000 appeal. The agency said there was a major safety concern with the straps.

However, no one seems to know why it took 6 years for the NHTSA to respond to Dorel. Meanwhile, Dorel appealed the NHTSA’s 2008 decision too. Finally, this January, the NHTSA asked Dorel to initiate a recall.

California product liability lawyers have for long, been very concerned about the snail pace of recall processes at the NHTSA, but to have to wait close to 10 years for a recall of car safety seats, is shocking.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product liability. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 1:50 pm: No comments

Colgan Air Plane Crash Report Blames Crew Errors for Accident

February 3rd, 2010

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report into the causes of the Continental plane crash in Buffalo, New York last year. California plane crash lawyers will not be too surprised to learn that the report blames crew for errors made before the flight that caused crash.

In February last year, Continental Connection Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air crashed near Buffalo. All 49 people on board were killed, and one person on the ground died when the plane crashed into a suburban neighborhood. The National Transportation Safety Board crash report blames the plane captain’s “inappropriate response” to the activation of a warning system, to alert crew if the plane was travelling too slowly in icy conditions.

According to the report, Captain Marvin Renslow operated the button that was designed to operate a low speed warning system to alert them if they were flying at speeds too low for icy conditions. However, first officer Rebecca Shaw set the displays to keep the plane at normal speeds.  Besides, NTSB investigators say the captain’s responses were confused. The pilots should have noticed that the warning alarm was about to go off on the cockpit display. However, neither Renslow nor Shaw noticed this.

The report also names other contributing factors for the crash, including failures by both Renslow and Shaw to notice that air speed was declining to the point where the warning systems were activated. The report mentions the two pilots’ unnecessary talk in the cockpit, as well as the failure of the airline to develop systems that would spot errors like the ones that occurred in this case.

Earlier, the Board had made individual mention of the two pilots, and their inadequacies. The NTSB had previously cited Shaw for sending text messages just before the plane took off, and had noted the possible distraction from this. Shaw was also suffering from a bad cold on the day of crash. Captain Renslow also had a checkered training record.  He had failed a total of 5 performing checks in his career. However, Colgan air was aware of only three failures. Besides, concerns had been raised that First officer Shaw was fatigued as she had arrived at Newark after flying all through the previous night, and had taken two planes from Seattle.

The Colgan Air crash had focused attention on the question of pilot fatigue.  The NTSB report does not specially mention pilot fatigue as a factor in the crash. It seems NTSB members were not able to agree on whether pilot fatigue specifically contributed to the Colgan crash. The NTSB however recommended that airlines take up the issue of pilots who may be tired because they arrive for their flight after taking another flight, and in many cases, after having traveled for several hours across the country.

The crash focused attention on low pilot wages and how these impact the quality of pilots who operate regional planes. Shaw was apparently unable to afford a home close to Newark, which would have helped her avoid the need to travel by air to catch her flight. Her friends have said that finding a home in the area was not possible on her pilot’s salary.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of aviation accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 3:07 pm: No comments

Toyota Announces Repairs for Recalled Vehicles

February 2nd, 2010

At last, beleaguered automaker Toyota has announced that its dealers will begin repairs on 2.3 million vehicles for a jammed accelerator pedal problem. If you are a Toyota owner with any of the following vehicles

  • 2009-2010 Matrix
  • 2005-2010 Avalon
  • 2007-2010 Tundra
  • 2009-2010 RAV4 and Corolla
  • 2007-2010 Camry
  • 2010 Highlander

you are advised to take your car to your local dealer for repairs.

The automaker announced on Monday that the repairs involve a piece of steel that will fix the accelerator pedal problem. The stainless steel bar will be installed into the pedal assembly. The steel bar will prevent the pedal from sticking, and will ensure that the pedal returns to its place. Dealers across the country will begin initiating the repairs, which are expected to take about half an hour to compete. Repairs will begin in a few days at most dealerships. According to Toyota representatives in the USA, the pedal repairs combined with measures to prevent the gas pedal from entrapment under the floor mat, will solve the problem of sudden acceleration.

According to Toyota, its engineers have tested the repairs on accelerator pedals on models linked to the problem, and found that the remedy prevented the accelerator pedal from sticking. The automaker also says that Toyota owners will have priority in repairs over the cars that are currently sitting in showroom lots. According to the automaker, the parts are already on their way to dealers across the country.

If California product liability lawyers and Toyota owners were hoping that the announcement of repairs would signify an end to the acceleration crisis, that doesn’t seem likely. Even as the company announced the repairs, it continued to seem in contrast with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While Toyota insists that the repairs will last for the life of the vehicle, the agency has said that Toyota owners who have their cars fixed are likely to require replacement accelerator pedals in the future.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s problems don’t seem to have abated with the announcement of repairs. The company will prepare for at least two congressional committee hearings beginning from next week. According to the New York Times, Toyota’s chief executive for North America will attend the hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the 10th of February. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will also attend the hearing.

Most importantly, the automaker continues to face a crisis of credibility.  It’s too early to say if the repairs will be as effective as Toyota hopes, but California product liability attorneys continue to have their doubts about the efficacy of these repairs. Many continue to wonder aloud whether the problem exists in the electronic systems that are now in place in several Toyota models. The company has denied that the problem has anything to do with electronic systems. The next few months should show whether the problem has really been fixed permanently, or if the accelerator pedals could be for Toyota what the Firestone tires were for Ford.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle defects. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 1:31 pm: No comments

Man Sentenced in Fatal Drunk Driving Accident in Huntington Beach

February 1st, 2010

The motorist in a fatal accident that killed his passenger in Huntington Beach has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. On November 15th 2008, Kenneth John McNair was driving a Honda Accord that rear ended a Ford Mustang driven by Jose Pacheco. The Mustang burst into flames up on impact, and Pacheco suffered fatal burn injuries. He was 20 years old at the time of the accident.  Blood alcohol tests would later show that McNair was driving at a level of .25, more than 3 times the legal limit.

According to the deputy district attorney, McNair was not only driving under the influence, but was also driving without a license and speeding at up to 100mph. Soon after the accident, McNair allegedly walked away from the crash scene, but was stopped by Huntington Beach police.  Earlier that evening, McNair had been playing “beer pong.” He drank up to 10 beers, and then went off to another of his favorite joints in Huntington Beach to drink some more.

Pacheco’s family had appealed to the Orange County Superior Court judge to sentence McNair to 15 years in prison, the maximum sentence for this crime. However, Judge James Marion seems to have taken into consideration McNair’s apparently genuine remorse for the crash

Every year, more than 1,000 people die in drunk driving accidents in California. Those numbers have been steadily declining over the past few years. In 2008, there were 1,029 fatalities resulting from alcohol-related car crashes in California. That was a drop from 1,132 fatalities in 2007, 1,272 fatalities in 2006 and 1,298 fatalities in 2005. There have been plenty of factors that have contributed to the decline in these DUI fatality rates. California, which already has some of the toughest laws against drunk driving in the country, has also invested in stronger enforcement of these laws. Even in times of financial upheaval, the California Office of Traffic Safety has handed out grants to local counties to enable them to conduct sobriety checkpoints and patrols.

Checkpoints and patrols have a big role to play in bringing down drunk driving rates.  Motorists are less likely to drive in an impaired state, if they know that they are likely to be pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. Such measures are particularly intense in California during holidays when there are large numbers of drunk drivers on the streets.

The California Highway Patrol has also invested heavily in conducting awareness and education programs to drive home anti drunk driving messages. California drunk driving accident lawyers know that these issues can only be dealt with through a combination of education efforts with enforcement activities. Where drunk driving is concerned, communities, parents and schools also have a big role to play. Teen motorists are some of the highest risk groups for drunk driving.

Targeting this group of vulnerable motorists can help further bring down the number of alcohol-related car crashes in California.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 5:38 pm: No comments

UPS Honors 92 Truck Drivers from California for Safe Driving

January 29th, 2010

UPS has inducted 92 truck drivers from California into the Circle of Honor, an elite group of drivers who have completed 25 years or more of driving without an accident. With the induction of 92 drivers this year, California now has 403 Circle of Honor UPS drivers who have a combined 11,352 years of driving without an accident to their credit. The safest UPS driver in California is Yucaipa-resident Peter Pavilion. Mr. Pavilion has completed 39 years of driving UPS trucks without a single crash.

This year, there have been a total of 928 new members inducted into the Circle of Honor, the single largest number of new inductees in a single year in UPS history. Nationally, the safest UPS driver is Ron Sowder of Kentucky who has completed 48 years of driving for UPS without being in a single accident. In second place is Thomas Camp of Michigan, who has completed 47 years without a single accident. Fifteen other UPS drivers have completed 40 years without a single accident.

According to UPS, it has a total of 102,000 drivers who log more than 3.3 billion miles every year. The company says it has high safety records with less than one truck accident occurring for every million miles driven. California has a total of 9,617 UPS drivers.  California Circle of Honor inductees this year include drivers from Riverside, Sunnyvale, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Brentwood, San Bernardino, Fresno, Oakland, San Diego, Ontario, San Fernando, Palo Alto, Stockton, Sacramento, San Gabriel, Pasadena, Santa Maria and San Jose.

As California truck accident lawyers know, a trucker faces serious challenges as he goes about his duties every day. The job involves driving for long irregular hours, and spending time away from family. Truckers have to undertake hectic loading and unloading activities, and may get insufficient rest. As a result, a trucker may feel tired as he is driving, placing himself at serious risk of an accident.  Drivers are also at a high risk from an unhealthy lifestyle that includes rich foods and irregular meal times. A truck stop may not always available when a trucker needs to rest. This can contribute to lifestyle diseases, like diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac disease etc.

Truckers are also at a high risk for a condition called sleep apnea.  In this condition, there may be several interruptions in breathing during sleep. As a result of these interruptions, the person may wake up several times during sleep, and consequently, fee tired, fatigued and drowsy the next day. A trucker who suffers from sleep apnea is much more likely to doze off at the wheel, placing himself at serious risk of an accident and endangering his own life and the safety of other motorists.

For these drivers to be able to meet all these trucking challenges and avoid accidents is a feat that must be commended. These drivers deserve public support and encouragement, and can serve as an example worth emulating for other drivers.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of truck accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 3:40 pm: 1 comment

FAA Announces Progress in Commuter Airline Safety Post Buffalo Crash

January 28th, 2010

Close to a year after a devastating commuter airline crash in Buffalo, New York, the Federal Aviation Administration has presented a report on commuter airline safety. The report shows that progress has been made in meeting safety goals.

In February 2009, a Colgan Air commuter plane crashed near Buffalo, killing 49 passengers on the plane and at least one person on the ground. Commuter airlines are smaller carriers that ferry passengers on smaller regional routes that are not serviced by the national airlines. For the national carriers, it makes little financial sense to service these smaller regional routes, and therefore, they enter into an alliance with smaller carriers that transport passengers to the major hubs.  From these hubs, passengers then take the bigger airline to their destinations.

It is a common arrangement in the airline industry.  Most of the time, passengers who book tickets on national airliners may not even be aware that they will be flown to the major hubs on these smaller commuter airlines. However, the crash of Colgan Air in Buffalo exposed various safety loopholes in the manner in which commuter airlines operate their flights.

Voice recordings found after the Colgan Air crash indicate that the pilots were engaged in idle chatter in the minutes before the crash. The Colgan crash led to national criticism of the lack of federal oversight over these smaller airlines. A number of safety issues came to the forefront, including lack of pilot experience and training, poor pilot salaries and pilot fatigue. The National Transportation Safety Board was quick to react. During hearings conducted last year and attended by families of victims of the Buffalo crash, several of these points were thrown out.

Now, the Federal Aviation Administration has presented a report that says that new initiatives adopted after the Colgan crash have succeeded in increasing the safety of these commuter airlines. According to the report, these improvements occurred because of stronger government oversight of pilot training, as well as attempts by carriers to identify and monitor weak pilots. The report has graded airlines based on their safety enhancements, but does not name airlines.

The report says that close to 90 percent of the carriers that it investigated have a procedure to track pilots who lack experience.  These procedures also provided pilots with remedial training. The FAA also found 8 carriers with no proper procedures in place to identify and monitor problem pilots. However, most of these carriers have either stopped operations or have merged with other carriers. The report also says that 94 percent of passenger airlines are flown by operators that have implemented or intend to implement voluntary incident reporting processes that are recommended by the FAA.

The FAA report also expresses concern over cockpit indiscipline among pilots. California plane crash lawyers have been encouraged to note that the FAA plans to update a proposal on pilot training and experience standards. The agency will also continue to encourage pilot unions to work with pilots to eliminate cockpit distractions.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of aviation accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 4:35 pm: No comments

Toyota Announces Halt in Sales of Several Models Due to Unintended Acceleration Issues

January 27th, 2010

An embattled Toyota has announced that it will for the time being, stop building and selling several of its models in North America. The announcement is linked to the company’s continuing troubles with unintended acceleration involving several of its vehicles. There have been several reports of accidents involving runaway Toyota vehicles that accelerated to uncontrollable speeds without any input from the driver.

Last August, one such accident involving a runaway Toyota car grabbed international headlines, and forced the company’s president to issue a public apology. California Highway Patrol Office Mark Saylor was driving a Lexus on a loan from a local El Cajon dealership.  He was driving with his wife, 13-year-old daughter and his wife’s brother. The car accelerated to speeds of more than 120mph.  It finally crashed through an embankment, exploding into flames, and killing all four occupants.

Toyota blamed the accident on all-weather floor mats that were incompatible with the Lexus. It has issued two recalls totaling more than 4 million vehicles since the tragedy in San Diego. However, neither the recalls nor Toyota’s insistence that incompatible floor mats were to blame for the unintended acceleration episodes, has comforted Toyota owners. Several consumers have come forward to report instances of unintended acceleration even when there were no floor mats fitted in the models.

The Electronic Throttle Control System on several of these vehicles has been blamed for the acceleration. Toyota is also facing class action lawsuits around the country from consumers who claim they have been in accidents or have been injured because of these acceleration problems.

A beleaguered Toyota has now announced that it will temporarily stop the manufacture and sale of several of its models. The models include

  • Camry
  • Corolla
  • Avalon
  • Matrix
  • Tundra
  • Highlander
  • Sequoia
  • RAV4

Californian auto accident lawyers find it an unusual move for the company, but Toyota says that it is necessary to stop manufacturing the cars until a solution to the unintended acceleration can be developed. The automaker says that the move will restore consumer’s confidence in Toyota and the safety of its cars. Till as recently as a few months ago, Toyota’s reputation as a maker of safe family cars for the North American market was without blemish. However, the unintended acceleration issue and the seemingly clueless frustration with which the automaker has attempted to find out the cause of the problem, has left the company’s reputation and credibility damaged.

If Toyota hopes that this new move will restore conference in its vehicles, it could find itself wrong. Millions of Americans own the vehicles that have now been put in a state of freeze. The company’s delay in getting to the root of the problem and developing solutions, have likely caused these Toyota owners severe anxiety and distress. These people have no choice but to continue to use their Toyota vehicles in the knowledge that there are still largely unknown problems in their vehicles that could endanger their safety.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle defects. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 3:24 pm: No comments

1.5 Million Graco Strollers Recalled Due to Fingertip Amputation Risks

January 26th, 2010

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is drawing attention to a recall of 1.5 million strollers because of the risk of amputation injures.

Stroller maker Graco has recalled 1.5 million units of strollers.  The hazard apparently comes from a hinge that can slice off a child’s fingertip, and can cause laceration injuries when the stroller is opened or closed. Parents and caregivers are being advised to stop using the strollers immediately.

According to the CPSC, the company has received 7 reports of children placing their fingertips in the hinges, and being injured.  Five fingertip amputations resulted, and there were two instances of fingertip lacerations. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission advisory, the company had manufactured two separate styles of hinge mechanisms for these stroller models. The recall only includes strollers and travel systems with a plastic hinge mechanism that has indented canopy positioning notches.

The strollers included in the recall were manufactured between October 2004 and February 2008.  Parents who are not sure if their strollers are included in the recall are advised to look for the model number and manufacturing date on the lower inside of the rear frame.  The strollers were made in China and sold at Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers around the country. Parents are advised to contact the company for a free repair kit. For information on how to receive your free repair kit, contact the company at the Graco website at www.gracobaby.com.

California product liability lawyers have not failed to note that this recall is very similar to the recall of MacLaren strollers a few weeks back. In November, MacLaren recalled more than 1 million of its strollers after of 12 reports of amputation injuries. In those cases too, the children were injured when their fingers got caught in the stroller hinge mechanism, as the stroller closed or opened.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product liability. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Posted by rreeves at 4:09 pm: No comments
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