Hyundai Issues Recall Of Defective Seat Belt Parts That Could Become Flying Shrapnel In A Collision

The best thing you can do to reduce your chances of getting injured in a traffic collision is to wear a seatbelt.  Seatbelts have reduced the number of fatalities and severe injuries resulting from car accidents more than any other vehicle feature that has been introduced before or since.  What happens if your seatbelt does not do what it is supposed to do, though?  A defective seatbelt, or any other defective part in your car, could make your injuries worse.  When car manufacturers discover that cars they have sold have defective parts, they issue safety recalls for all the cars of the same make that were manufactured in the same factory at around the same time.  If the dealer discovers that your car has a defective part, they will replace it free of charge.  Of course, this does not help you if the manufacturer does not become aware of the defect until after you get injured because of it.  If a defective vehicle part contributed to your accident or worsened the injuries you sustained, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

The Trouble With the Hyundai Seatbelts

In May 2022, Hyundai Motors America issued a recall notice for approximately 239,000 vehicles because of concerns over defective seatbelt pre-positioners.  Only a few pre-positioners have malfunctioned, but Hyundai encourages all owners of the affected models from the affected years to bring their cars to the dealership to inspect, repair, or replace the pre-positioners on their car’s seatbelts.  The recall applies to Hyundai Elantra and Hyundai Accent cars manufactured between 2019 and 2022 in the Hyundai factories in Alabama and Mexico.  The problem with the pre-positioners is that, in the event of a collision, they deploy abnormally, which causes metal fragments to become airborne in the passenger cabin.

What Should You Do If Your Car Has a Defective Part?

If you notice that your car has a defective part, you should report it to the dealership.  If the malfunction of a part in your vehicle causes you to suffer an injury, whether the malfunction causes a collision, or even if the part injures you when the car is not moving, you can file a product liability lawsuit against the car manufacturer.  You should respond promptly if you receive a safety recall notice about your vehicle.

If a malfunction of someone else’s car causes them to collide with your car, your claim is usually against the driver of the defective car.  The driver is at fault if they should reasonably have known about the defect, such as if a safety recall had been issued for the car, and they did not take the car to the dealer to be inspected.  If the driver could not have reasonably known about the defect, then the fault lies with the vehicle manufacturer.

Let Us Help You Today

The car accident lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you seek compensation if your injuries are the result of a car part malfunction.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

motor1.com/news/588371/hyundai-recall-exploding-seat-belt/