Southaven Products Liability Lawyer Fighting for the Rights of Injured Children
Defective child safety seat attorneys serving Southaven, Hernando and Olive Branch for more than 50 years
Before you can bring your newborn home from the hospital, you must have a safety seat installed in your vehicle in which the baby will ride home. An infant is precious cargo, and parents trust that the child safety restraints in the car seat they selected will protect their child from injury in the event of a car crash. The best way to protect a child from injury or death in a car crash is to protect them using a child safety seat or booster chair in the rear seat.
At Taylor Jones Taylor, the Southaven, Olive Branch and Hernando products liability attorneys understand that filing a lawsuit against a negligent child safety seat manufacturer will not erase the serious injuries your child suffered because the safety restraint did not protect them in a crash. Taking legal action will not bring back a child who perished in a crash because they were strapped in a child restraint device that failed, but it can serve to hold manufacturers accountable for their negligence, and it can ensure that child safety seats will better protect children in the future.
Seat belts and car seats save lives
The National Transportation Safety Board reports that the leading cause of death to children is traffic crashes nearly half of which occur within 7 miles of home. The incidence of injury and death in children ages 4 to 8 years old remains high because children are either unrestrained in the vehicle, or restrained in safety systems designed for adult bodies. Restraining a child makes it 3 times less likely that they will be injured in a crash, and placing the child in a back seat makes it 2 times less likely that they will be injured in a crash.
There can be defects in the design of a child safety seat, or defects that are introduced in the manufacturing process. For this reason, these structural defects may render the safety features of the device ineffective. Parents who strap their child into a child safety seat every morning have no idea that their child could be severely injured or die despite being placed in a safety seat because of inherent defects in the product.
Child safety restraints defects and safety hazards
Here are a few of the child safety seat defects that have played a role in children’s injuries in car crashes:
- Weak outer shell
- Base separates from the shell
- Sticky buckle that is difficult to unbuckle
- Made from flammable materials
- Defective harness
- Should harness slots improperly aligned
- Defective T-shield
- Defective handles
- Sudden release
Child safety seat recall campaign information
There have been millions of defective child safety seats that have been recalled by their manufacturer because of defects. The sad truth is, children often end up getting injured before the recall is implemented. There are manufacturers who have dragged their feet about issuing a product recall because of the tremendous costs involved and how much a recall can blemish their corporate image.
Fortunately, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) maintains an updated list of all child safety restraint recalls on their website, SaferCar.gov. The NHTSA’s Child Seat Recall Campaign Listing is a database of child safety seat recalls from 2006 up to the previous day. Parents simply do a search for the car seat’s manufacturer, and any recalls for products made by that company will come up. There is also a form where parents can file a complaint about a defect in a child safety seat, and you can sign up to get notifications of new recalls emailed to you.
Make sure that your child’s safety seat is properly installed
Safe Kids Mississippi is on a mission to keep your kids safe. Towards that end they have compiled a list of locations where parents can bring their car and their infant car seat, and have it inspected to make sure that the seat is safe and properly installed. Most of the locations do not require a prior appointment.
If your child has suffered an injury in a car crash when they were properly restrained in a child safety seat, you may want to speak to a personal injury lawyer at Taylor Jones Taylor. From offices in Southaven, Hernando and Olive Branch, they investigate your accident and find out if you have a case. You may be able to take legal action against the manufacturer of your child’s safety seat and recover monetary damages for your child’s injuries.
Contact the firm to schedule a case review today
Your child is precious to you, and when they have been injured due to defective safety restraints you will likely stop at nothing to make sure to obtain justice on their behalf. The Southaven products liability attorneys at the law firm of Taylor Jones Taylor can help you after your child has been injured by defective product in Mississippi. Please contact the firm to discuss your case 662-342-1300, or fill out this contact form to schedule an appointment. The firm has offices in Southaven, Hernando and Olive Branch, but is well known throughout Grenada, Batesville, Tupelo, Cleveland, and Oxford for its dedication to clients. How can we help you and your family?
