About 90,000 Toyota Highlanders are being recalled due to defective safety seat belts. The defect involves the improper operation of the seat belt which can cause rear facing child safety seats to malfunction.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the recall affects Highlander and Highlander hybrid sport utility vehicles manufactured in 2008. The NHTSA discovered the defect during standard testing. Testing showed that seat belts could not fasten properly when rear-facing child safety seats were used.

The defect may cause the child car seat to not be properly secured, allowing it to move during an auto accident.

Toyota Highlander vehicle owners will be notified by mail at the beginning of June.

Toyota has previously recalled vehicles due to defective safety seats. In 2002, a man was killed when his safety seat belt jammed after an accident, preventing him from being able to flee the vehicle when it caught fire. The man was in a Toyota Corolla. A civil trial began last year in California in order to determine if Toyota is liable for the death.

If a vehicle defect is the result of negligence, the vehicle manufacture can be held responsible for the serious injuries that may result from the defect. Car wreck attorneys are working on cases in which serious injury or fatality has resulted due to auto defects caused by negligence.

We can expect to be in a car crash once every 10 years and a serious one every 20 years. A 150 pound person exerts a force of more than two tons in a 30 mile per hour collision. Seat belts can greatly reduce your chance of serious injury. In fact, those who wear seat belts can reduce their injuries and medical costs associated with these injuries. So take the few seconds and buckle up. It just makes sense.

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.