Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuits Focus on Alleged Tesla Design Flaws

Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 18:46:04 GMT

Motor vehicle manufacturing and design defects can’t be overlooked as possible catalysts in fatal or injurious Florida car accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports there were 30 million vehicles recalled last year, down just slightly from the 29 million the year before, though a significant drop from the record-high 50 million recalled in 2016. A quarter of the cars recalled haven’t been repaired, and these figures don’t include the vehicles with defects not yet identified/admitted by manufacturers.

Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers can explain that when a vehicle defect or defective vehicle part plays a role in a crash or exacerbation of injuries, product liability claims may be filed against the auto maker.

Tesla is among the latest to come under intense scrutiny after a number of serious injuries and fatalities resulting from a range of alleged defects that plaintiffs in numerous injury and wrongful death lawsuits say rendered their electric cars unreasonably dangerous.

Defects in Batteries, Door Handles and Autopilot Feature Alleged

A recently-filed Broward County wrongful death lawsuit alleges a 48-year-old anesthesiologist and father-of-five was killed in a Davie crash after he lost control and crashed into a palm tree. He suffered no broken bones from the crash, but when the vehicle battery burst into flames, he was trapped. First responders were on scene and ready to help, but were reportedly unable to gain access because the Model S retractable door handles malfunctioned, rendering them inaccessible. This, wrongful death attorneys say, resulted in an unreasonably dangerous fire risk.

Tesla advertises its cars as “the safest on the road,” but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating possible battery defects in the company’s vans and SUVs in Model S and Model X vehicles made between 2012 and 2019 that that may cause some to spontaneously burst into flames.

In addition to reportedly inaccessible doors and spontaneous combustion risk, Tesla has also come under fire for its Autopilot feature. In August, a wrongful death lawsuit alleged a 50-year-old man who died in a Palm Beach County car accident while operating a Model 3 while the Autopilot feature was engaged. Neither the system nor the driver stopped the vehicle from impact. The company markets the feature as allowing for “full self-driving capability,” but then conversely warns drivers to pay attention and keep their hands on the wheel. Two other wrongful death lawsuits stemming from fatal crashes last year – one on the Florida Turnpike and another in Fort Lauderdale – make similar complaints.

This summer, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study concluding the names that vehicle manufacturers use for these automated systems (particularly “autopilot”) send a misleading message to drivers, no matter what the fine print.

Proving Vehicle Defect in a Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawsuit

In Florida product liability lawsuits against vehicle manufacturers, cars or their components can be deemed “defective” either by design, manufacture or marketing. A defective design indicates it was flawed and unreasonably dangerous because of the way the company designed it. Defective manufacturing means something went wrong in the manufacturing or shipping process that rendered the vehicle unsafe, even if the design itself didn’t pose any hazards. Defective marketing occurs when an automaker knows about a certain defect (or should know about it) but fails to give consumer warnings or properly label with sufficient instruction.

Common vehicle defects that can be a factor in car accidents include faulty:

Wiring
Airbags
Tires
Fuel systems
Computers
Seat belts

These cases tend to be quite complex and often difficult to prove. It’s imperative to hire an injury law firm with both the resources, experience and track record to help pursue your injury or wrongful death case.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Tesla sued for ‘defective’ Autopilot in wrongful death suit of Florida driver who crashed into tractor trailer, Aug. 1, 2019, By Soo Youn, ABC News

Man fatally burned in fiery Tesla crash after door wouldn’t open, lawsuit alleges, Oct. 24, 2019, By Catherine Thorbecke, ABC News

More Blog Entries:

Why Those Injured in Car Accidents are Required to Repay Health and Auto Insurers, Oct. 12, 2019, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Auto Insurers Allege PIP Fraud After Florida Crashes, Highlighting Ongoing Battle to Scrap It

Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 17:47:41 GMT

Florida’s no-fault auto insurance coverage – also known as personal injury protection (PIP) – is controversial and the subject of ongoing legislative debate. Earlier this year, as reported by FloridaPolitics.com, a bill to repeal Florida’s no-fault auto insurance died in committee. Lawmakers haven’t given up on the prospect of reintroducing a similar, if modified, measure in the future.

As it now stands, PIP coverage, as outlined in F.S. 627.727, is required of all motorists and extends a maximum of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits – regardless of fault. It is only if one’s condition crosses the “serious injury” threshold that they may seek additional coverage from the at-fault driver’s insurer and/ or their own uninsured/ underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) carrier.

Recently, it was reported litigation filed earlier this month in the Southern District federal court alleges three separate medical clinics wrongly billed an auto insurer for services through PIP, ultimately cheating the insurer out of $4.7 million. Although the lawsuits don’t specifically allege fraud by crash victims, it’s incumbent on Floridians and car accident attorneys to be mindful of these developments, as they may impact the types of challenges auto insurers may raise to deny medically necessary treatment following a crash.

According to the lawsuit, the clinics, controlled by two siblings in Miami, engaged in fraud, deceptive and unfair trade practices and unjust enrichment by submitting false, materially misleading and/ or fraudulent bills supporting records to plaintiffs for services which weren’t medically necessary – and in some cases, weren’t even rendered. The insurer alleges these clinics meted out a predetermined treatment plan to all South Florida car accident victims, without first considering the patient’s injuries. Each patient was reportedly diagnosed with non-specific sprains, strains or pain of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions – even if this was not reflective of their true condition. Further, all patients were referred for “excessive therapy modalities, regardless of the unique circumstances and needs of each patient.” All received X-ray scans, even when those results weren’t used in the treatment plans.

The insurer maintains the car accident victims weren’t properly examined, diagnosed or treated for their individual conditions, which resulted in treatment that was either unnecessary or excessive, in each case resulting in PIP benefits that were either exhausted or depleted – in some instances depriving crash victims of treatments they actually needed. This had been going on as far back as 2007, according to the allegations in the complaint.

The judge in the case is considering whether the federal courts even have jurisdiction over this issue.

In the meantime, it’s probable we’ll see another bill for PIP repeal introduced to the Florida legislature again soon. The state House speaker said that may come in the form of a no-fault/fault hybrid bill, wherein drivers would be allowed to maintain their PIP coverage if they wanted, but those who wanted to move to a mandatory bodily injury liability policy (which Florida currently doesn’t have, unless you have a poor driving record) could do so and ditch their PIP. Lawmakers say this could result in sizable savings long-term for a large number of people. Only about 10 percent of drivers in Florida carry only PIP.