Injury Due to Vehicle Malfunction
Most commonly, personal injury suits involving motor vehicles occur when one driver sues another driver for negligently operating a vehicle. The plaintiff alleges that the defendant’s negligent driving caused the accident. There are also personal injury lawsuits where the plaintiff claims that a vehicle malfunction caused a wreck. The cause of the car accident can be due to negligent design of the car or engine or that someone installed a defective or improper part in the vehicle, leading to the accident. A common example is where a mechanic improperly secures tires and a tire falls off while the vehicle is being driven on a roadway.
To successfully sue for vehicle malfunction as the cause of an accident, a plaintiff would need to prove that the defendant was negligent in the design or maintenance of the vehicle.
Elements of Negligence
The Court of Appeals of Georgia outlined the elements for a prima facie case of negligence in the 2002 case Johnson v. American National Red Cross. They are:
- Legal duty. The plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant had an obligation to conform to a standard of conduct that removes the plaintiff from unreasonable risk. Various factors will determine a potential defendant’s standard of conduct. For example, a pharmacy has a duty not to purchase drugs from unlicensed sellers.
- Breach of duty. The plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant’s behavior did not satisfy the standard. In the above example, a plaintiff shows, by obtaining receipts thorough the discovery phase of a trial, that the pharmacy purchased drugs from an unlicensed seller.
- Causal connection. The plaintiff must demonstrate that injury was suffered as a result of the defendant’s actions or omissions. This element includes demonstrating both actual and proximate cause. For actual cause, the plaintiff must show that but for the defendant’s actions or omissions, the plaintiff would not have been injured. For proximate cause, the plaintiff must show that the injury was a foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s action or omission.
- The plaintiff must show that he or she suffered damages as a result of the defendant’s action or omission.
Determining Liability for a Vehicle Malfunction
When vehicle malfunction is the cause for injury, there are usually three parties who could be at fault for the accident:
- The manufacturer. Often, a manufacturer designed the vehicle improperly, which could lead to a malfunction of the vehicle. For example, GM has been sued on many occasions and faced allegations that if negligently designed vehicles with faulty ignition switches that shut off while a vehicle was in motion. Due to the ignition switch shutting off, airbags would not deploy, leading to injury and death.
- The mechanic. A mechanic who improperly repairs a car can cause that car to be involved in an accident.
- The owner. If someone rents a car that was not well-maintained (e.g. worn out brake pads) and gets into an accident, then the car rental company can be liable for the accident.
Contact us
If you suffered injury due to a car accident, call Kennesaw car accident attorney, Joel Williams, a lawyer who fights for injury victims. If you have questions or would like to discuss your case, please call our office today at 833 – LEGALGA for a free consultation.
