What are the dangers associated with a Defective Door Latch?
Statistics show that the likelihood of surviving an accident is greatly increased if an occupant can remain in the vehicle during an accident. We represent several clients who have had family members die as a result of side collisions and rollover accidents wherein door latches failed to keep the occupants in the vehicle during the accident sequence. Door latches can fail for various reasons including mechanical problems. However, we have often found that door latch designs can also result in a failure of the door to remain closed during an accident sequence. In fact, certain door latch designs will open simply by forces put on the outer body of the vehicle. These designs fail during an accident scenario not because of unreasonably high forces on the latch system, but rather due to poor designs which allow the door latch to actuate during the accident sequence. Proper door latch design is critical to survivability in an automobile accident.
