Two product liability cases filed in Marshall, Texas allege that General Motors used faulty seatbelts in vehicles. Both cases were filed the last week of February, 2008.

One case alleges that General Motors was negligent in regards to the design and manufacturing of the 2004 Cadillac DeVille. A woman sustained serious injuries during a car wreck when her seat belt failed to protect her.

The lawsuit claims that the seat belt was defective and violated the established federal standards for seat belt crashworthiness.

The second suit was filed regarding the crashworthiness of a 1993 Chevrolet Lumina. The suit alleges that a women sustained fatal injuries during a car wreck due to a faulty seat belt. The suit accuses General Motors of violating the federal standards of crashworthiness.

If your or a loved on have been seriously or fatally injured during a car wreck due to safety belt defects, contact a seat belt attorney at Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP at 1-800-460-0606. An experienced seat belt lawyer will be able to evaluate if you are eligible to seek compensation.

          My husband is constantly complaining about people using their cell phone while driving.  Just the other day, he told me that he had made it a point to watch as he was driving in town to see if other drivers were using cell phones.   Nearly every driver he passed was indeed using a cell phone. 

          We live in a small town.  It takes approximately 5-6 minutes to go anywhere in town you want to go.  Then why does everyone have to be using a cell phone while driving?  Kids are at school or athletic functions and need to be picked up, someone forgot something and needs you to bring it to them, you are cooking supper and need whoever is out and about to pick up something at the store…and the list of ‘good reasons’ goes on and on.

          Statistics show, and if we were honest with ourselves we would know this without checking statistics, that the distraction of a cell phone almost quadruples our chances of getting into an accident.  Therefore, try to make it a habit to pull off the road to use your cell phone. 

          As the saying goes, ‘the life you save may be your own’.

As of March 1^st, New Jersey police will have the authority to pull over and ticket drivers for using hand-help cell phones while operating a vehicle.  The revised law allows drivers to use hands-free devices, but makes using hand-held phones a primary offense, allowing police to pull over a driver without any other traffic violations.   Drivers caught talking or text messaging on a hands-held device can be fined up to $100 and face a surcharge of $250. 

The revised law will take effect despite evidence that hands-free devices still only have a marginal effect on the likelihood of being in a car wreck. Current research shows that there isn’t a difference between hands-held and hands-free in regards to the level of driver distraction.   Police reported 3,580 accidents across New Jersey that involved cell phone use in 2006. According to the Department of Transportation, 2006 is the first year that the type of cell phone use during car wrecks has been accounted for.   Of the 3,580 reported accidents, the number is evenly split in regards to hands-free and hands-held devices at 1,854 to 1,726. Out of the 3,580, 11 of the wrecks were fatal. Out of these 11, it is again split. Six fatal car wrecks involved drivers using hands-held and five involved drivers using hands-free. 

If you or a loved one was seriously injured in a car wreck due to driver distraction from a cell phone, contact a driver distraction attorney of Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP at 1-800-460-0606. An experienced driver distraction lawyer will be able to evaluate if you are eligible to seek compensation.