Many new cars today come with safety features as standard. However, there are also many cars where additional safety features are optional add-ons at the buyer’s expense. Or, the manufacturer chooses not to include the crash avoidance technology as standard equipment. Jaime Jackson Law advocates that safety should not be an option. If technology exists that would make our roads and all of us safer, that technology should be included.
Crash avoidance technologies
Crash avoidance technologies (or systems) are safety features designed to help vehicles avoid crashes. These safety systems include: automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, and lane keeping systems.
Lane Assist Systems are designed to mitigate potential collisions from the side of a vehicle or a vehicle leaving its lane of travel. Lane assist systems have been included on certain vehicles sold in the United States since 2006, and earlier in Europe. These systems include the following technology: Lane Departure Warning (LDW); Lane Keeping Assist (LKA); and Lane Centering Assist (LCA).
Lane Departure Warning is a camera-based system that can detect lane markings. If a vehicle is drifting out of its lane and crosses a road marking, the driver is alerted by a visual, audible, or tactile alert. For example, a vibrating steering wheel or seat.
Lane Keep Assist uses either a camera-based system or infrared sensor to detect road markings. When a car drifts out of the white lines, an electronically powered counter-steering torque is applied to assist the driver to move back into the lane.
Lane Centering Assist is very similar to lane keep assist, with the exception that it helps the driver to keep the vehicle in the center of its lane.
Failure to equip with lane keeping system
In this case our client’s vehicle left its lane of travel, entered the breakdown lane, and exited the roadway where it then contacted a culvert. This caused the vehicle to roll over and catch fire. Consequently, our client died in the fire.
We filed suit on behalf of the family against the vehicle manufacturer for failure to equip the vehicle with a lane keeping system. This would have kept the vehicle in its lane of travel and prevented the vehicle from exiting the roadway, rolling over, and catching fire.
Settlement brings closure
The parties were able to reach a confidential settlement, shortly after the lawsuit was filed, bringing closure for the family involved.
If you or a loved one have been injured or killed because your vehicle did not protect you the way it was designed or manufactured to, contact Jaime Jackson Law.