Indiana Injury Law Blog

A few days after Toyota Motor Company announced an extended recall for unintended acceleration issues in some of its vehicles, the company said that it would stop manufacture and sales of several of its models that had been linked to the acceleration safety issues. Production of eight models, including the Corolla and the Camry will be stopped, while Toyota tries to understand the reason for the acceleration, and develops solutions for it.

There is more bad news for Toyota. Consumer Reports magazine has withdrawn its recommendations for 8 Toyota vehicles that have been linked to the jammed acceleration pedals. Consumer Reports says that the massive recalls of the vehicles are behind its decision to withdraw its recommendations. According to Consumer Reports, although the episodes of sudden acceleration are rare, it was withdrawing its recommendations because thus far, Toyota has not been able to find a solution to the problem.

The Consumer Reports decision is the latest drawback for the automaker in a series, which began with a devastating accident in California that was later found linked to a jammed accelerator. Other Toyota owners had reported earlier that their cars began to accelerate suddenly without any input from the driver. But, there had been no major injuries or accidents related to such acceleration, until August when the California crash made headlines internationally.

All this has caused great concern to Toyota owners in Indiana, many of who have no choice but to continue driving these cars, while the automaker grapples with this problem. It could be weeks or months before Toyota finds a solution to the acceleration problem, and until then, owners of the vehicles that have been included in the recall and Indiana product liability attorneys will have to wait patiently for answers.

The Indiana product liability lawyers at Theodoros and Rooth represent victims injured by the use of defective automobiles and other products.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Window Coverings Safety Council, a group of manufacturers and importers of window coverings has announced a recall of 50 million Roman shades and blinds because of their risk of strangulation hazards. The recall comes after 8 strangulation deaths of children linked to entanglement in shades and blinds, and at least 16 other incidents where children got entangled, and were at risk of strangulation.

The recall is the second largest in US history and involves more than 50 million shades and roll up blinds sold at Wal-Mart, Pottery Barn and several of the country’s biggest retailers. The CPSC and the Window Coverings Safety Council is recommending that families with children should avoid rollup blinds and window shades, and have cordless window shades instead. The CPSC is encouraging parents to either get cordless coverings, or ask for a free repair kit to secure the existing coverings.

It’s important that parents be alert to the possible hazards from dangling cords. We don’t think of window shades and Venetian blinds as being dangerous, but there have been far too many instances of children getting entangled in the cords, and being strangled to death. It is clear that whatever existing safety standards are being used to manufacture these shades and blinds, they are simply not strong enough to protect children. The CPSC chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum has confirmed as much. She says her agency is working with the Window Coverings Safety Council to develop stronger standards for these products.

The CPSC is encouraging parents to have a close look at all shades and blinds at home, to ensure that there are no cords accessible on the front, side or back of the window covering
Place cribs and other baby furniture away from windows, so children can’t access the cords
Tuck away loose cords, so children can’t reach them. If your shades come with looped chains or cords, install tension devices to stretch the cord and reduce the strangulation hazard.

The Indiana product liability lawyers at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured by defective products including, toys, cribs, car seats and other children’s products, auto defects, and unsafe pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. .

As Indiana product liability lawyers, we are worried about the increasing hazards linked to drop side cribs. These cribs have been linked to several incidents of suffocation and entrapment, contributing to multiple fatalities.

This week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of 2.1 million drop side cribs manufactured by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. The CPSC has asked parents to stop using the Stork Craft cribs and make alternative sleeping arrangement for their babies. According to the CPSC, the problem is a familiar one - the drop side can detach unexpectedly, generating a gap between the wall and mattress, where an infant can easily become trapped and suffocated. There have been 110 incidents of such detachment of the drop side, of which 67 events occurred in the US. Out of these, four infants suffocated to death, and 20 infants fell from the crib, suffering bumps and concussions.

The Stork recall is the largest involving cribs, but it’s the most recent in a series of recalls involving defective drop side cribs. This year alone, there have been several recalls involving these drop side dropsied cribs.

1. In January, 535,000 Stork Craft cribs were recalled.
2. In October this year, Delta Enterprise recalled 600,000 recalls cribs due to suffocation hazards.
3. In July, 400,000 Simplicity drop side cribs were recalled after multiple infant fatalities.

As Indiana product liability attorneys, we are concerned about the frequency with which drop side cribs seem to feature in reports of falls, suffocations, entrapments, and consequently, recalls. Child safety groups are already calling for a ban on drop side cribs. Toys R Us says that it may stop ordering drop side cribs, and may even stop stocking these by the end of 2009. In Suffolk County, NY, there is now a ban on the sale of drop side cribs.

So how unsafe are these cribs? It’s definitely reason to wonder when we see the same styles of cribs subject to recalls for the same types of defects and causing similar injuries. For starters, we would like to see more coordination between the Consumer Product Safety Commission and crib manufacturers and importers about safety standards. Stricter rules have to be set to prevent such accidental detachments that seem to occur so frequently now.

It’s that time of the year when we have to make some very important decisions - buying the perfect holiday gift for the children in your life. Across Indiana, parents and relatives will begin looking for the perfect gift for their kids. Unfortunately, shopping for toys is not the easy hassle-free process it used to be. With 80 percent of toys sold in the US manufactured outside the country, and the revelation of lead content in several popular toys from Mattel and other companies, buying a toy is not just about how much a child will enjoy it, but also how safe it is.

As Indiana product liability lawyers and parents ourselves, we’re constantly looking for resources that can help parents make smart and informed choices while shopping for their kids. We came across this comprehensive safe shopping list on CNet News, which provides parents the tools they need to make a safe decision.

At the top of the list is, not surprisingly, the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC has come under fire from Indiana product liability lawyers and child safety advocates for its failure to crack down on companies selling defective and hazardous toys. However, the agency’s website is a terrific source of information for parents who want to know if the toys they are considering have been recalled for safety reasons. The website features information and pictures of recalled toys, which may continue to be available on store shelves and online stores for weeks after a recall is announced.

GoodGuide rates toys and several other consumer products for harmful chemicals including lead and mercury. The rating system ranges from green which is the safest rating, to red which indicates that the toy has high levels of lead and other chemicals, and should be avoided.

For those who prefer their toys 100 percent free of chemicals, GreenToys offers a wide range of 100 percent safe toys. .

HealthyStuff is a resource that allows buyers to look for products by name, brand or category and read reviews. Your can find health ratings for a large number of toys, helping you avoid those that have a high toxin content.

As Indiana product liability attorneys and parents, we are particularly impressed with MomsRising, an effective and efficient tool that allows parents to conveniently find out the chemical content level of a toy via cell phone. Simply send MomsRising a text message with the name of the toy, and you will receive a message with information about the chemical content of that particular toy. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act made it harder for manufacturers, importers and distributors to shirk liability for defective toys by setting down strict lead content standards and imposing heavy penalties for violations. The law is still in its infancy, and we will have to wait to see if it really does help keep defective toys off the market.

In the meantime, these healthy toy resources will help you make safe and smart choices.

Maclaren is a name that’s probably more familiar to Indiana parents than product liability lawyers. These expensive, sturdy-looking strollers have been the preferred choice for millions of parents around the country, who have depended on these to cart their little bundles of joy everywhere. This week however, there was major cause for concern after Maclaren USA announced that it was recalling about a million baby strollers because of the risk of finger amputations.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Maclaren USA has received at least 15 reports of children placing their fingers in the stroller hinge mechanism. In at least 12 those cases, the children got their finger tips amputated or suffered other finger injuries when the stroller was folded or opened up. The CPSC has asked consumers to stop using these strollers immediately, and contact the company for a free repair kit that will fix the hinge problem.

As Indiana product liability lawyers, we would like to ask the one burning question that parents around the country want to know from the stroller manufacturer - Why did the company wait until it found out about 12 injured children to get its strollers of the market?

We may not get any answers from Maclaren anytime soon. The company seems to have its hands full dealing with frantic parents who have crashed the company’s website and overloaded its toll free number, seeking answers to their stroller queries. The company is also dealing with an international backslash from customers in the UK, Canada and Australia who want to know why the strollers are not being recalled in their countries too.

It seems negligent that the company waited for 12 children to have their fingertips sliced off before taking any action. Even if Maclaren assumed that parents were not likely to allow their children to place their fingers in the hinge mechanism, they should have allowed for the exuberance of kids, and children being taken out by older siblings or grandparents, who might not be able to keep a firm hand on the child.

The Indiana product liability attorneys at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured by the use of defective products in Merrillville, and around the state of Indiana.

As Indiana product liability lawyers, we have been concerned about the uncontrolled acceleration defect in Toyota vehicles that has already led to the death of 4 people in a Lexus crash, and the recall of 3.5 million vehicles. The automaker this week issued a statement that sought to suggest that the NHTSA had found no defect relating to the accelerator in some of its cars, and was almost immediately rebuked by the NHTSA for suggesting that the agency had given it a clean chit over the defect.

The agency has at least eight times investigated Toyota over complaints that the cars were prone to sudden and unintended acceleration. In at least two of those investigations, the agency announced recall of several Toyota models. In the remaining investigations, the agency cited insufficient evidence to show that the vehicles were prone to unintended acceleration. But it did conclude that there were design problems including throttle control issues, in several models that could contribute to unintended acceleration.

All these concerns were amplified in August of this year, when four members of the same California family died when their Lexus accelerated to excessive speeds and crashed. 911 calls made from the car showed that the gas pedal had jammed in the minuets before the crash. Then followed a massive recall of 3.5 million vehicles for, what Toyota called, floor mat compatibility issues. Toyota blamed the accident on the use of floor mats that were not compatible with the Lexus. It this week released a statement saying the agency had confirmed that there were no defects in the recalled vehicles. The agency has rapped Toyota saying that the automaker needs to figure out the cause of the problem, and devise solutions for this.

Millions of people in Indiana drive Toyota's vehicles. The automaker needs to figure out where the problem lies - floor mat incompatibility, push button ignition, or electronic throttle – and come clean about these. There are far too many incidents of uncontrolled acceleration for Toyota to dismiss these anymore.

The Indiana product liability attorneys at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured fro defective products in Merrillville and around the state of Indiana.