General Motors Corporation will pay an undisclosed settlement amount to California resident Michael Samardzich, whose left eye was ruptured and became permanently blind when the GMC Yukon that he was a passenger in collided with another motor vehicle on July 7, 2006. The teenager filed a products liability claim against the auto manufacturing giant for his injuries.
The force of the crash shattered the side passenger window of the SUV and the pieces of glass damaged Samardzich’s eye. Police reports indicate that he was wearing a seatbelt when the auto accident occurred.
Personal injury attorneys for Samardzich say that the teenager would not have suffered the permanent loss of vision if GM had made the passenger window with laminated glass instead of tempered glass, which is less costly and is known to break and shatter more easily.
The fragility of tempered glass can be a problem when a motor vehicle crash occurs. Not only can pieces of glass cut the victim’s skin or get into their eyes or other organs, but passengers in a vehicle have a greater chance of being thrown from the vehicle if the glass in the side windows is shattered.
Auto manufacturers know that laminated glass is the stronger glass, which is why this type of glass is used in the windshields of all motor vehicles sold in the United States.
In Maryland and Washington D.C., our personal injury law firm represents clients that have been injured in motor vehicle accidents caused by negligent drivers, defective auto parts, and other negligent parties.
Defective auto parts cases may involve:
• Defective tires
• Seat back failure
• Auto recalls
• SUV rollovers
• Faulty air bags
• Roof crushes
• Gasoline tank explosions
• Defective door latches
• Defective seat belts
General Motors Agrees To Settle Automobile Defect Claim For Undisclosed Sum, RTT News, February 20, 2008
General Motors Settles in Auto Defect Claim; Plaintiff Claimed Laminated Sidelites Would Have Protected Him, GlassBytes.com
Related Web Resource:
Coalition for Auto Glass Safety and Public Awareness
Contact Lebowitz & Mzhen today and request your free consultation with one of our defective products lawyers.