Manufacturer defect revealed as cause for accidents

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Car Accidents, on Monday, September 14, 2015

Massachusetts motorists may be interested to learn that following a series of nationwide criminal convictions in connection with fatal vehicle accidents, a number of drivers have been exonerated as it has been revealed that there was a fault in the General Motors vehicle involved. Furthermore, the company was aware of the defect for around 10 years before going public with the information and issuing a recall. In several of the cases cited in connection with the defect, drivers lost friends and loved ones and then found themselves serving a prison sentence for responsibility in their death. One woman had her guilty plea for reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter erased after spending three months in prison when her friend died in a crash. Another woman’s fiance was killed, and a court reversed her plea of guilty to negligent homicide in 2014. In one case, a man was taken into custody even after information about the General Motors defect was made public. The charge was finally dropped after the man’s attorney hired a private investigator who connected the accident to the defect. There have been other similar cases, and lawyers predict there will be more to come. In most cases, the drivers’ claims that the cars seemed to stop or speed up on their own did not originally seem credible. The drivers in these cases have filed lawsuits against General Motors. Individuals who are involved in accidents in which there is a claim that they are responsible may wish to consult an attorney. As these cases demonstrate, even when there is a known defect, drivers are sometimes wrongly accused. The repercussions can range from being unable to collect from insurance companies for expenses to criminal charges. Drivers might wish to file a suit against auto manufacturers or others who may be responsible for the accident. In some cases, companies may offer to settle out of court.