Lawsuits Against Takata Blowing Up All Over the Country
Plaintiffs in the class action suits are seeking economic damages including loss of resale value.
Libertyville, Illinois, March 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The Takata Corporation is facing a wave of lawsuits stemming from their distribution of faulty airbags that have been installed by manufacturers around the world. The airbag inflators used by Takata have a propensity for exploding too forcefully causing the airbags to splinter and shower drivers and vehicle occupants with shards of metal that can cause injury and death. This has led to the filing of more than 70 class action lawsuits against both the company itself and the vehicle manufacturers.
"Takata's airbags have been installed in over 25 million vehicles since 2008. Manufacturers including Toyota, Honda, BMW, Ford, Nissan, and Subaru have already recalled many of these vehicles as a result," commented Illinois product liability lawyer Bogie Martinovich.
Plaintiffs in the class action suits are seeking economic damages including loss of resale value. Additionally, there are at least 10 state and federal personal-injury lawsuits stemming from injuries received by drivers and passengers when the airbags deployed. Given the sheer number of Takata airbags that have been installed in vehicles sold within the United States, it's likely that this number will climb over the coming year as more people become aware of the problem.
This past month, Takata Corporation, the manufacturers, and the plaintiffs' lawyers have agreed that the cases will be consolidated during pre-trial proceedings. Further, while deciding the right venue proved to be contentious, the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has granted their request to consolidate the lawsuits being heard within the US Federal Court System. As such, they have determined that the cases shall be consolidated and tried in Florida and presided over by US District Judge Frederico Moreno.
"Takata has been well aware of the problems and dangers of their airbag inflators. They have put millions of drivers at risk and have failed to take sufficient steps to rectify the problems. This has led to more than six deaths and hundreds of injuries. All it required to prevent these deaths and injuries was the replacement of a simple part that shouldn't have been installed to begin with," scolded Illinois product liability lawyer Bogie Martinovich.