Product Liability Attorneys in Georgia

Defective products can turn an ordinary accident into a life-changing injury or fatal crash. In vehicle-related product liability cases, the cause of harm is not always obvious at first. A crash may appear to be caused by driver error, road conditions, or impact damage, when a defective tire, seat belt, airbag, roof, fuel system, or other vehicle component actually caused or worsened the injuries.

At Werner Law, we investigate serious product liability cases involving defective vehicles, defective tires, unsafe auto parts, poor warnings, and negligent service or maintenance. These cases are often complex, technical, and evidence-driven. The sooner the vehicle, tire, or failed component is preserved, the better the opportunity to determine what happened and who may be responsible.

When a Defective Product Causes or Worsens a Crash

Not every serious crash is caused by one careless driver. In some cases, a defective automotive product can cause the crash itself. In other cases, the defect may make a survivable crash far more severe.

For example, a seat belt may fail to properly restrain an occupant. A roof may collapse during a rollover. An airbag may fail to deploy. A door latch may fail and allow an occupant to be ejected. A defective tire may separate or blow out without warning. A fuel system defect may cause a post-crash fire.

These issues are not always visible after a wreck. Collision damage can hide the difference between what failed before the crash and what was damaged during the crash. That is why product liability cases require careful investigation, evidence preservation, and expert analysis.

Product Liability Cases We Handle

Werner Law handles product liability claims involving defective cars, trucks, SUVs, tires, safety systems, and vehicle components. These cases may involve design defects, manufacturing defects, inadequate warnings, negligent maintenance, or a combination of several failures.

Defective Tires and Tire Failure Cases

Tire failure can happen for several reasons, including design defects, manufacturing defects, age-related deterioration, poor service, inadequate inspection, or ineffective recalls.

As tires age, chemical changes can reduce their durability. This process, commonly referred to as oxidation, can cause tire components to harden, become brittle, and eventually fail under normal driving conditions. This can happen whether the tire is being used daily, stored as a spare, or sitting on a store shelf before being sold.

Tire aging is especially dangerous because most consumers cannot easily identify a tire’s age without understanding the code imprinted on the sidewall. Many drivers do not know the code exists, and even fewer understand what it means. When manufacturers, sellers, or service centers fail to properly warn, inspect, or remove dangerous tires from service, innocent people can be placed at risk.

Tire failure cases may involve:

• Tread separation
• Tire blowouts
• Aged or expired tires
• Poor tire maintenance
• Defective tire design
• Manufacturing defects
• Inadequate tire recalls
• Failure to warn consumers
• Negligent inspection by service centers

After a suspected tire failure crash, it is critical to preserve the tire, wheel, vehicle, and any tire fragments. Do not authorize repairs, disposal, or salvage before the evidence is documented and examined.

Defective Seat Belts

Seat belt defects can cause severe injuries when the restraint system fails to keep an occupant within the proper seating area. Some cases involve a seat belt that fails completely, allowing the occupant to be ejected or thrown inside the vehicle. Others involve a seat belt that does not restrain the occupant properly, allowing the person to strike the steering wheel, windshield, dashboard, or another passenger.

These cases are difficult to identify without experience. Seat belt systems vary by vehicle, and issues may involve spooling systems, torsion bars, latch plates, webbing, buckles, or overall restraint design.

Defective Seats

Defective seat cases often involve a vehicle seat that collapses during a rear-end collision. When a seatback fails, the occupant may suffer severe head, neck, back, or spinal injuries. Passengers seated behind the collapsed seat may also be seriously injured.

These cases typically require a detailed teardown and inspection of the seat and its internal components.

SUV Rollover and Roof-Crush Defects

Some vehicles are unreasonably prone to rollover because of their design, center of gravity, stability, or lack of adequate safety features. In other cases, a rollover may be caused by another failure, such as a tire blowout.

Rollover crashes can become catastrophic when the vehicle roof does not provide adequate protection. A defective roof may buckle, crush downward, or collapse into the occupant space. When that happens, the roof failure can directly cause or worsen head, neck, spine, and catastrophic injury claims.

Defective Door Latches

Door latch defects can cause or contribute to serious injuries when a vehicle door opens during a crash or rollover. These cases often involve partial or complete ejection from the vehicle. Even when another driver caused the initial collision, a defective latch may be responsible for making the injuries far worse.

Defective Airbags

Airbag defect cases generally involve two major issues. The first is when an airbag fails to deploy during a serious crash. The second is when the vehicle lacks an airbag or safety feature that could have reduced the severity of the injury, such as a side-curtain airbag in a rollover or side-impact collision.

Fuel-Fed Fire Cases

Fuel-fed fire cases may involve defective fuel tank placement, unsafe fuel system design, or defective components that allow fuel to escape during or after a collision. When liquid fuel leaks and ignites, the resulting fire can cause catastrophic burns, fatal injuries, or make an existing crash far more severe.

Defective Brakes, Acceleration, and Other Auto Components

Product liability cases may also involve defective brakes, unintended acceleration, steering failures, electronic system failures, or other unsafe vehicle components. These claims require a detailed review of the vehicle, maintenance history, crash facts, and available product defect evidence.

Types of Product Liability Claims

Product liability cases can involve several different legal theories. In many cases, more than one type of claim may apply.

Design Defect Claims

A design defect claim involves a product that was designed in a way that creates an unreasonable risk of harm. In vehicle cases, this may involve unsafe fuel tank placement, inadequate rollover protection, unstable vehicle design, weak roof structure, or a safety system that does not reasonably protect occupants during foreseeable crashes.

Manufacturing Defect Claims

A manufacturing defect claim involves a problem that occurred during the manufacturing process. The product may have been designed properly, but something went wrong during production. In tire cases, for example, a manufacturing defect may involve contamination, bonding problems, poor materials, or other plant-level failures that cause the tire to separate or fail during normal use.

Failure-to-Warn Claims

A failure-to-warn claim involves a product that lacks adequate warnings, labels, instructions, or consumer information. These cases may involve known rollover risks, tire aging hazards, recall-related dangers, maintenance requirements, or safety limitations that were not clearly communicated to consumers.

Service Centers, Sellers, and Maintenance Negligence

Product liability cases do not always involve only the manufacturer. Tire shops, auto service centers, repair facilities, sellers, distributors, and maintenance providers may also play a role.

When a service center agrees to inspect, repair, rotate, replace, or maintain a tire or vehicle component, it may have a duty to identify dangerous conditions and perform the work safely. Cutting corners, missing obvious hazards, installing unsafe parts, or failing to warn a customer can put drivers and passengers at serious risk.

Manufacturers Often Try to Blame the Victim

When a defective product causes a serious injury or death, manufacturers and sellers often deny responsibility. They may blame the driver, the vehicle owner, the roadway, maintenance history, impact forces, or unrelated damage.

That is why these cases require a strong investigation. Product liability claims often depend on physical evidence, expert analysis, accident reconstruction, biomechanics, product engineering, and a careful explanation of what failed and why.

At Werner Law, we work to separate the facts from the excuses. Our goal is to identify whether a defect existed before the crash, whether that defect caused or worsened the injuries, and who should be held accountable.

What to Do After a Crash Involving a Possible Defective Product

If you suspect a defective tire, vehicle, or auto part played a role in a crash, take these steps as soon as possible:

1. Get medical care immediately.
2. Make sure a police report or crash report is completed.
3. Preserve the vehicle, tire, wheel, and any failed parts.
4. Do not authorize repairs, disposal, salvage, or destruction of evidence.
5. Take photos of the vehicle, tires, interior, crash scene, and visible damage.
6. Save towing, storage, repair, inspection, and maintenance paperwork.
7. Contact an attorney before the evidence is lost, altered, or discarded.

Product cases can turn on evidence that disappears quickly. Early action can make a major difference.

Talk to a Georgia Product Liability Attorney for Free

If you or a loved one was seriously injured in a crash involving a defective vehicle, tire failure, unsafe auto part, or failed safety system, Werner Law can review your case and explain your options.

When you contact us, we look at the facts, determine what evidence needs to be preserved, and evaluate whether a product defect may have caused or worsened the injuries. If you do not need an attorney, we will tell you. If we accept your case, you do not pay unless we resolve it favorably.

Call Werner Law today for a free and confidential consultation.

770-VERDICT (770-837-3428)