Seatback Failure and Defective Seat Back Attorney

Serving individuals and attorneys in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida and the U.S.

All over Florida and across the country, people are injured or even killed in motor vehicle crashes that involve seatback strength failure. This failure is typically caused by the rearward loading of the seat by the occupant's body mass. The mass accelerates and either this acceleration or the weight of the occupant – or both – cause the seatback to fail.

Seats and seatbacks can fail in several ways:

• The seat backs in the front seats of a vehicle fail to stay upright when the vehicle is hit – especially when hit from the rear
• The seat back itself bends or becomes deformed
• Seat backs disengage from base of seat, partially disengage or break
• Seat attachment to floor is faulty and seat separates from floor of vehicle
• The slope/ramp of the seat is badly designed and allows passenger to slide too far forward in a crash

When these various failures occur, here are the potential results:

• The driver loses control of the vehicle and possibly crashes into other vehicles or guard rails
• The driver and/or front seat passenger are ejected from the failed seats, possibly through rear or side windows or doors
• The driver and/or passengers are injured by being tossed or slammed around inside of the vehicle
• The broken seats can block vehicle doors and hinder attempts to exit the vehicle, which is a horrendous defect when a vehicle has caught fire (see fuel system fires section)

Seatback failures lead to catastrophic results such as serious internal injuries, head trauma and brain damage, paraplegia, quadriplegia, and death.

Consumers need to be aware that the federal government's safety standards are so weak that a $10 beach chair from Wal-Mart can pass the test. The standards have not been updated in over 30 years. Consumers are sold vehicles with unsafe, inadequate seats and seat backs. Litigation helps to push our lawmakers and industry “watchdogs” to increase and enforce the standards for the safety of seats in our automobiles.

"To reduce risk of seatback failure, consumers are encouraged to limit the amount of cargo in the trunk and don’t carry it longer than necessary; push the cargo as close to the back seat as possible and evenly distribute the load; and when provided by your vehicle manufacturer – use their cargo restraints (nets) to secure cargo."

Consumer Justice Attorney Edward M. Ricci and his law firm seek to hold car and truck manufacturers accountable for selling an unsafe vehicle that is equipped with poorly designed, inferior, or defective seats. Ricci has also co-authored the articles “Automotive Seats and Seatbacks: Take No Comfort In Them” and “The Long Road to Automotive Safety”.

Attorney Edward M. Ricci, P.A. litigates seatback failure and other defective auto product liability cases in West Palm Beach, throughout Florida and the U.S. See case examples on this site. We have gone up against some of the largest manufacturers of SUVs, trucks, sedans, coupes, and all types of automobiles and moving vehicles, seeking justice for victims and their families.

To learn more about defective seatback and auto products cases or to receive a complimentary review of any potential case you have, please contact our law firm online or call us at 561-842-2820. We are happy to answer your questions about any crashworthiness or auto product liability case.

Pursuing Justice.

For more than three decades, Attorney Edward M. Ricci has specialized in civil trial law. He pursues justice for victims in the areas of auto accidents, personal injury and wrongful deaths, and crashworthiness (seatbelt and seat back fairlure, airbag failure, rollovers) claims. The firm serves consumers throughout the United States and Florida including West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Tequesta, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.